• Published 2nd Jul 2013
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Ace Combat: Wings of Unity - PolishValsion



Based on Namco's Ace Combat series of video games. A sequel to Ace Combat: The Equestrian War.

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Chapter 8: On the Brink

A cold wind blows as the heroines take flight,

They search for their companions amidst the peaks.

There will be no rest for the wicked

As the hallowed light will pierce the clouds.

Chapter 8

On the Brink

June 17th, 2021
0905 hrs
The Crystal Empire, Mirage squadron base

The ponies who managed to escape from the ruins of Canterlot quickly organized themselves in the Crystal Empire. In most cases, the citizens were willing to share their homes for those who couldn’t stay in rough-and-ready quarters, which were mostly organized around the vicinity of the castle, as well as and in the castle itself. The technicians previously remaining in Canterlot managed to extract most of the data from the computers and quickly shared them with key members of the military, who, in turn, delivered the data to their troops. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s foresight allowed the EAF to remain a well-organized and armed group. Now all ponies were more than eager to strike back at the Exiles. However, some of their comrades still hadn’t reached the Crystal Empire. According to latest reports, nearly all remaining troops, and some civilian too, were trudging their way through the Crystal Mountains. They also indicated that enemy soldiers were hot on their trail. A rescue operation had to be conducted in order to avoid any potential danger to them or the Crystal Empire. While the Crystal Empire wasn’t as technologically advanced as Equestria, computers were, in fact, present. The Equestrian scientists helped the crystal ponies in accommodating with the latest technology over the last year.

Said computers were now present in important military structures of the empire, being only reserved for military purposes. Most of them were in bases, which were now used by the EAF forces. The Mirage squadron also had a computer in their new base. They decided to keep the tradition going and referred to the “computer room” as Mission Control again.

Lightning Bolt was now checking the data stored on one of the discs that was given to them to see how much battle data it contained and how relevant it was, while the other fliers examined the screen. She wanted to show some seemingly important data to everypony. However, there was one flier missing.

“Where the hay is Rainbow Dash?” Firefly wondered. “I bet she’s still sleeping…”

“Give her a rest, Flash,” said Lightning. “She had a rough day yesterday. We all did.”

“I know, I know. But we’ve been up on our legs for an hour now. Hey, Fluttershy, can you go wake her up?”

Fluttershy kept standing a little at the side, but when Firefly called her, she reacted quickly.

“Sure.”

The yellow pegasus trotted through a couple of corridors before she reached the squadron quarter, where seven beds were located. Rainbow was lying in the one to the far right. Fluttershy walked up to her and nudged her body with her front hooves.

“Um, Rainbow…?”

“Wait… don’t go…” Rainbow muttered in her sleep. Her left rear leg twitched a little.

“Rainbow… wake up,” Fluttershy said again.

Rainbow didn’t seemed to hear her. She rolled to the side.

“I wanna… fly with you… a bit longer…”

“Rainbow Dash, wake up!” Fluttershy exclaimed.

The blue pegasus suddenly opened her eyes and sprung from her bed, as if she was touched by burning steel. Her sight rested on Fluttershy.

“What… w-w-what’s going on? Fluttershy! Are we being attacked?”

“No, no, calm down,” the yellow mare eased her friend’s worries. “I only came to wake you up.”

Rainbow got a grasp of her surroundings and realized the rest of the team wasn’t in the room. She figured she must’ve overslept again. The pegasus sighed.

“Sorry. I was a little tired…”

“It’s fine,” Fluttershy assured her.

“So, what’s going on then?” Rainbow asked.

“Lightning is examining the data Gale send to us. She hopes to find something important. Maybe it may help us in further confrontations…”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. She knew about Lightning’s fascination with technology and thought it could’ve been just an excuse. Yet, at the same time, she never examined the data owned by the princesses. It could, in fact, contain some key information.

“Then I guess I'd better check it out, too. Come on.”

Rainbow stretched her legs a little before she went outside the room and into the corridors. Fluttershy followed her closely.

“Say, what were you dreaming about?” Fluttershy asked suddenly. “You sounded like you were talking to someone.”

“Uh… nothing, nothing important,” Rainbow said hesitantly.

Fluttershy noticed that Rainbow’s cheeks were slightly blushing. She easily guessed that she must have had another dream about Mobius. But before she could confirm her thoughts, Rainbow did it instead, as she spoke with a slightly disappointed tone.

“I dreamed I was surrounded by enemy fliers. Ten or so. I tried to fight them, but they overwhelmed me. Then… Mobius pierced through the clouds and helped me in taking them all down. I was so happy to see him again…”

Rainbow shook her head slightly and stopped walking. Fluttershy looked at her, concerned.

“Are you alright?” she asked the blue pegasus.

“Eh, forget it… I don’t know where he is or what he’s doing… I’ll probably never see him again… only in my dreams.”

Fluttershy looked deep into Rainbow’s magenta eyes.

“You may never know. He might come to help us again.”

“Hah. If only.”

Rainbow didn’t seem keen on continuing this conversation. Fluttershy remained silent. The two ponies entered Mission Control, where the other five fliers were waiting.

“There you are, Rainbow,” Firefly commented.

“Sorry, gals. So, what’s up? Fluttershy told me you wanted to show us something, Lightning.”

“Indeed,” the white pegasus replied.

She turned around on her rotating seat so she could see their friends face to face.

“Don’t you think that it’s a little strange?” she started.

“What is?” Derpy asked.

“Equestria did not take part in any conflict for over five hundred years… until only just recently. There were several local conflicts around the world, too… The Belkan War, the uprising in Urusea, assault on Emareia, the Equestrian War… and now the invasion of the Exiles. Even if we take into account that the last conflict was being planned for a while, everything else happened suddenly in a span of several years…”

The ponies looked at each, pondering those words.

“What are you getting at?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I believe all of these conflicts are somehow connected. There is always some sort of catalyst that leads to a conflict: casus belli, as many historians call it. Something must have happened a decade or two in the world that caused this shift in powers… all these wars.”

Lightning turned around, looking back at the screen. She started typing something on the keyboard, trying to access a certain catalogue. Firefly analyzed in her mind what she just heard. While she wondered if the Equestrian War could have been a planned conflict as well or not, she tried to recall the events from past few years. During her travels, she did heard about the inevitable war in Emareia, but did not seen any visible signs that could eventually cause it.

Lightning Bolt suddenly grumbled in disappointment. When she tried to access the catalogue, a big red warning message, saying: “ACCESS DENIED” displayed on screen. Lightning slammed her right hoof next to the keyboard.

“What do you mean, ‘Access denied’?!” she exclaimed. ”Those files contain data from the Canterlot Library. Everypony should have access to them. Alright, let's see if this will work...”

She tried bypassing possible security measures, but nothing came out of it. Even though she managed to access the folder, its contents did not please the white pegasus. Mainly because… there were almost none. All that it contained was a single text file. It appeared to be some sort of a timeline, regarding various events from many years past. One of them was referencing “the Ulysses Disaster,” but it lacked any details.

“Horseapples!” Lightning cursed. “This is all too vague. I'll need more sources and details to confirm my research, though I’ll doubt we’ll get them from somepony at the moment.”

“That’s strange…” said Cloud Kicker. “Why would our scientists gives us discs that supposedly contain all data, but they actually don’t?”

“Maybe they just forgot to add these particular files,” Derpy interjected. “They were acting in a hurry, after all.”

Firefly wasn’t certain about this.

“Something’s a bit suspicious here… That ‘Ulysses Disaster’... I could swear I’ve heard that somewhere before, but I can’t put my feather when that was... Rainbow, maybe you should go and ask that friend of yours, Twilight Sparkle. I’m sure she can help us learn more about it.”

“She’s probably in the castle library… or she would be, if the situation wasn’t so tight. Or she’s talking to Princess Cadance and Shining Armor… Don’t you worry. I’ll go look for her.”

Before she left the room, Rainbow took her communicator and put it on.

“Call me if we get a sortie order, OK?”

“Sure thing,” Firefly replied.

-----------------

0920 hrs
The Crystal Empire, EAF Headquarters

Rainbow Dash passed the courtyard and entered into the eastern section of the castle, where several provisional offices for EAF leaders were established. The pegasus kept wondering about any possible connection between all those conflicts that Lightning Bolt mentioned. Plus, that Ulysses Disaster… what could it refer to?

While initially caught up in her thoughts, she was snapped back to reality when a loud voice came out from behind the door Rainbow was just passing.

“... that is why I’m telling you this. My answer is still ‘No’!”

“But… That’s not fair!” another voice protested.

“What is not fair?” the first voice asked.

Rainbow came to a screeching halt. She recognized one of the voices.

“That was Spitfire…” she thought. “Is she arguing with somepony?”

The blue pegasus approached the dark blue doors and peeked through the keyhole. There was another flier inside besides Spitfire, a female one. She had a light turquoise coat and an amber mane with gold stripes. Rainbow gasped quietly.

“It’s Lightning Dust! What is she doing here…”

Wanting to know why the pony who nearly got kicked out of the Wonderbolt Academy in Cloudsdale was still here, Rainbow carried on listening.

“Why won’t you let me join the Wonderbolts, ma’am?” Lightning Dust asked with a pretentious tone.

“I thought I already told you several times,” Spitfire replied. “But since your mind still refuses to understand, then I’ll rephrase this again... You aren’t ready! You’re impatient, irresponsible, and more importantly, you refuse to co-operate with other fliers.”

“It’s not my fault I’m so much better than they are,” Lightning Dust argued.

Spitfire wasn’t in a mood to carry the conversation in this direction.

“Listen, if you think you can win this war by yourself, then you’re making a big mistake. Besides, I didn’t called you here so that you can whine about not being accepted,” the fiery-maned pegasus reminded. “You were stationed in Manehattan up until now. What is the current situation there?”

Lightning Dust managed to settle her emotions. She proceeded with the report.

“The Exiles attacked yesterday evening. They probably got bold after they took Canterlot over. Their offense forced us away from the East Sector. Our Air Force base is located there. As a result, they cut the city away from possible aerial reinforcements.”

“Not for long,” said Spitfire.

The yellow pegasus got up from her seat and started pacing slowly around the room.

“I’m sure you heard about the remaining soldiers and civilians making their way toward the Crystal Empire. The Exiles are after them as well. If they find them, or worse, learn the location of the Crystal Empire, we’ll have a real disaster on our hooves. We need to provide the retreating ponies with a distraction. The best way to do so would be to lead an operation to recapture East Manehattan. And I want you to lead that operation.”

“Me?” Lightning Dust asked, slightly surprised.

Rainbow, who kept watching through the keyhole, could not believe what she just heard. Why would Spitfire trust her after all she’s done at the Academy? Why even keep her in military?

“That’s right,” Spitfire continued. “I’m giving you a temporary leadership over one of the new squadrons that are being formed here. You will go along with Burner and Racer squadrons to aid the earth pony and unicorn battalions in an attempt to recapture East Manehattan, as well as the Equestrian Air Force base there. This will provide us with an important rally point for reinforcing Cloudsdale. Then we might start focusing our attention on Ponyville… maybe even Canterlot. The sooner the better.”

Spitfire returned to the desk and gave something to Lightning Dust.

“Your fellow fliers are already waiting for you at the castle grounds. You’ll recognize them by this emblem on their vests.”

Lightning Dust took the vest and examined it for a while. Rainbow Dash tried to see what it was showing, but Lightning’s body obscured her vision, so she could not guess what kind of symbol the emblem contained.

“So, do you understand your mission?” Spitfire asked.

“... Yes, ma’am,” Lightning Dust replied.

“Then get on it. If you do well enough, I might consider giving you the leadership over that squadron permanently.”

But Lightning Dust did not move. She kept staring at Spitfire.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” The Wonderbolt leader sounded impatient now. “There is no time to waste.”

“But… What about you, ma’am?”

“What do you mean?”

“After that… tragic accident yesterday,” Lightning Dust started, “... the only one left to fly in the main Wonderbolts squadron are you and lieutenant Soarin’, ma'am. You’re going to need some sort of backup…”

Spitfire crossed her front hooves. The look on her face was a bit irritated now. She knew exactly what Lightning Dust was implying.

“Don’t worry about me,” the yellow pegasus said. “I have already made necessary changes. Fleetfoot, Rapidfire and Misty will join my team. We’ll be flying as a five-member team now.”

That response left Lightning Dust looking at Spitfire in disbelief.

“You should concern yourself about getting East Manehattan back. Get to it, Lightning Dust.”

She turned around, seemingly about to leave the room. Rainbow backed away from the door. Still, she heard the vigorous flier expressing her negative emotions.

“I’ll go, but if I was in the Wonderbolts, I’m sure I wouldn’t end up like that sorry excuse for a pegasus did.”

“What… did you say?” Spitfire asked, her voice slightly trembling.

“I said I would not let that dragon kill me, like he killed that pathetic—

“ENOUGH!”

Rainbow jerked when she heard Spitfire’s voice suddenly rising and the sound of her hoof slamming against the wooden desk.

“You better work over your attitude, Lightning Dust. I’m not going to tolerate your arrogance any further,” Spitfire warned her sternly.

Lightning Dust apparently ignored her. Spitfire then said something that caused both her and Rainbow’s spine to shiver.

“I want you to listen to me, and listen closely… If I hear that you caused any mishaps during the operation, I will send you before the disciplinary committee. Everypony knows about your antics in the Academy, so charges against you will most likely be confirmed. And those include exposing other cadets to a direct threat of life or harm. The ponies from the committee despise fliers who put others in danger. If they find you guilty, you can forget about being in the military or the Wonderbolts for the rest of your life.”

Spitfire spoke those words calmly, yet she put much emphasis into last few. Lightning Dust widened her eyes in disbelief.

“Are… Are you threatening me?!” she exclaimed.

“No. Consider it a final warning. I’ve already been too permissive about your actions. Listen, Lightning Dust. I’m giving you this task as a chance to prove yourself worthy of being a Wonderbolt. I still see a lot of potential in you, but that attitude is not helping either of us. You really have to learn to work with the others. Otherwise, there is no place for you in our team, you understand? Now get out of my sight!”

Though Rainbow could not see it, Lightning Dust’s expression changed back to angered almost instantly. When she approached the door, Rainbow heard her yelling. Having an uneasy feeling, she stepped away to the side.

“I will not be humiliated like this! I deserve to become a Wonderbolt! And I will! With, or without your permission, ma’am!”

“GET OUT!” Spitfire shouted.

Lightning Dust kicked the door open and left quickly. Spitfire stared blankly before her for a few seconds before she covered her face with her hooves.

“Celestia, give me patience…” she muttered.

Rainbow peeked her head inside the room. It wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be, save for several flying papers and a damaged wooden door.

“Gee, I’ve never saw you so steamed before,” she said.

Spitfire lifted her gaze and noticed the blue flier.

“Rainbow Dash… You’ve heard everything, huh?”

“Not intentionally… You two had been arguing loud enough to wake up half of the castle guards. So, let me guess… She wanted to thrust herself into Firebolt’s position?”

The Wonderbolt leader only replied with a simple “Mm-hm.”

“And instead of kicking her out, you’ve given her leadership over a squadron?” Rainbow asked.

“Believe me, if I had more time, I’d pick somepony else. But I needed a flier with decent battle experience, somepony who is familiar with the terrain. Lightning Dust was stationed in Manehattan with her previous team since this war began, so there wasn’t much to choose from.”

Rainbow Dash seemed uncertain about letting a reckless pegasus like Lightning Dust having such an important position. But Spitfire didn’t wanted to talk about her any longer.

“Not the best choice, I know, but still better than choosing a complete novice” she concluded. “Anyway, what are you doing here, Rainbow?”

“I was just going to look for Twilight,” Rainbow replied. “There is something I want to ask her…”

The blue pegasus was just about to leave the room when something crossed her mind. She remembered how Spitfire mentioned yesterday about her starting days in the Wonderbolts, about 15 years ago. Rainbow decided to try and get something out of her.

“But… since I’m here,” she started, “maybe you can tell me.”

“Tell you what?” Spitfire asked.

“Thunder was just checking the data she got from Gale. She believes that the recent conflicts that happened around the world, and in Equestria, are somehow related. It may have something to do with the ‘Ulysses Disaster’ that we learned about. What is it about?”

Spitfire blinked her eyes several times, as if she did not understand what Rainbow just said. Although, in truth, she knew what she meant, the surprise effect struck her still.

“Are you kidding me? Almost everypony know, or at least heard about the Ulysses Disaster. It happened a long time ago, but many ponies still remember it. We didn’t want to waste space on those optical discs for that kind of information. There were more important things… You’re saying you don’t know what the Ulysses Disaster is?”

“No…?” Rainbow said with uncertainty.

Spitfire covered her face with her left front hoof again.

“Girl, were you living under a rock for the past two decades?! This is one of the most important occurrences in modern Equestria’s history. It’s been mentioned in the newspapers, spoken about in radio, they are teaching about it in school. What were you doing then, sleeping?”

That last question sounded a little rhetorical. Rainbow rolled her eyes around, feeling kind of embarrassed. Spitfire let out another sigh.

“Never mind. Come here. I’ll give you a quick history lesson.

Rainbow approached Spitfire and sat next to her. The Wonderbolt leader booted her computer on, began searching through the folders and managed to find what she was looking for. The data stored there contained mostly pictures and some timelines. Spitfire began:

“All key events regarding the disaster can be traced about 25 years back, sometime after the Belkan War ended. It was then that our astronomers had discovered a large object in space: an asteroid the size of a moon, orbiting around one of the planets. It was named 1010EQG Ulysses and not considered a major threat, since it was in a safe orbit. However, a few months later, another asteroid, codenamed Polyphemus, had appeared. It crashed into Ulysses. The collision produced about 10,000 meteor fragments. Our scientists predicted that they would impact Equis in five years.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened when she heard about it. She began to listen to Spitfire even more carefully now.

“Since there was no way to divert the orbit of all of them, we needed something to protect our planet. The two superpowers, Equestria and then Griffin Empire, tried to formulate a plan. The griffins proposed a construction of various anti-air railgun networks in key locations around Equis in order to intercept and destroy the meteors.”

“Wait a second… did you just say railgun?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yeah. That was the latest weapon created by the griffins and their most powerful one: only the first of their technological gems made after the Belkan War. They wanted to build such facility at their southern border, calling it ‘Project Valkyrie.’ From what I heard, it also included Fortress Intimidation. That facility was comprised of eight railguns. They could fire at long-range and destroy meteors in quick succession. It was believed that putting five operational facilities in each corner of the world would be helpful rather than having one country control the entire network.”

Spitfire showed Rainbow a picture that contained such a facility. It seemed to be quite big, reminiscent of a certain one Rainbow already encountered with her friends…

“It looks just like the Burning Talon… or Fortress Intimidation,” the blue pegasus realized.

A little smirk appeared on Spitfire’s face.

“So, maybe you do know something after all. Both the Burning Talon and Fortress Intimidation, otherwise known as Strategic Laser Turret Platform and Anti-Asteroid Missile Launch Facility respectively, were designed by the Griffin Empire to protect Equis from meteors. Several other countries, especially the Federal Republic of Urusea, also volunteered to construct railgun networks of their own, with the Griffin Empire providing necessary resources. They went to call them Strategic Asteroid Interceptor Turret Networks, or S.A.I.T.N. for short.

“Did they actually succeeded?” Rainbow wondered.

“Partially,” Spitfire replied. “When the experimental railgun network codenamed S.A.I.T.N. Type-0 was built in Neue Gryphus to serve as a test bed for the railgun technology, the other countries hastened their projects as well. S.A.I.T.N. Type-1 was built in the northern pony-griffon nation of Estovakia, the neighbors of Emareia. However, the construction was halted due to monetary problems. Some time later, a company owned by the Griffin Empire was established in the Urusea. Its purpose was to distribute the Empire's technological output to the continent beyond the ocean and to provide assistance to build S.A.I.T.N. Type-2 following S.A.I.T.N. Type-0's successful test in Neue Gryphus, former Principality of Belka. Urusea ultimately managed to finish constructing S.A.I.T.N. Type-2 not long before a war erupted there.”

As Rainbow Dash kept listening, she tried to put all these pieces together. Spitfire carried on as she changed the pictures on the monitor to those showing Canterlot Castle.

“After the first two railgun networks were constructed, Princess Celestia, who was ruling Equestria alone at that time, felt anxious about this plan. She rightfully thought that these facilities could later be used as tools of war. So she proposed an alternate: to build a large magically concentrated dome to repel Ulysses’ fragments.”

“Dome?” Rainbow asked. “As in, a magical barrier?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” Spitfire confirmed. “Of course, the dome needed at least several months to be completed, as it required enormous amounts of magical energy. The process of constructing the Burning Talon began as well, but due to the projects’ conflicting methods with the Princess's ideals, their construction was halted several times. Both Equestria and the Griffin Empire were running out of time.”

Spitfire then showed Rainbow Dash the pictures that presented falling meteorites into the surface of Equis. It was a terrifying sight.

“Five years after Ulysses collided with Polyphemus, its fragments began to impact the planet, just as the astronomers predicted. The magic dome was cast, and the railgun networks were used to destroy the fragments. Thanks to them, damage was kept to a minimum…”

Spitfire paused before she showed another set of pictures, ones that stunned Rainbow — several huge craters in places where cities once were.

“... only about enough to destroy the whole world order,” Spitfire finished.

The two were examining the pictures for a few seconds before the Wonderbolt leader carried on.

“The impact was catastrophic; no less than a million lives perished, and millions more were left homeless. Since then, everyone refers to it as the ‘Ulysses Disaster.’ It caused a huge financial breakdown, as a lot of money was poured into rebuilding cities and helping the survivors. Additionally, the economic chaos turned for the worst, and most of the small third world countries either collapsed or merged with existing superpowers. Unfortunately, it didn’t take more than few more years to spark conflicts, since the people were frustrated that the promises of protection from their governments turned out to be false.”

“Did… Equestria suffered from that impact, too?” Rainbow asked with concern.

“Not much. The dome that the princess created with the help of thousands of unicorns from around Equis helped protect Equestria. The only area that was hit with Ulysses fragments is what is now known as the Badlands. Since our country was damaged the least, we helped those who suffered more. We sent financial help, supplies and medicine. I was there, as a Wonderbolt cadet. I saw thousands of ponies, griffins or zebras living in dire straits wherever we went… a terrible sight. A lot of people just want to forget about the Ulyssess Disaster, but it's not that easy... And while Equestria defended itself, the same could not be said about the Griffin Empire.”

“What happened?”

“The Burning Talon was finished, but it wasn’t enough to protect them,” Spitfire explained. “The Griffin Empire was struck heavily. It collapsed, and several small separatist nations began to liberate themselves. Only Neue Gryphus managed to remain intact and stayed loyal to the former Empire, which became known as The Griffin Kingdom. The griffins blamed us for the failure of protecting the world from Ulysses, and tensions kept rising between our nations. Then King Lightbeak stepped into power in the Kingdom, and things returned to normal. At least, that’s what it seemed…”

Spitfire ended her explanation. Things became much clearer to Rainbow now. However, she still had several questions in her mind.

“Not long after the Griffin Empire became a kingdom, the conflicts in Urusea and Emareia happened. One of the S.A.I.T.N. weapons had been destroyed in the latter war. Before we could react, we had our own problems barely six months later…”

“The Equestrian War…” Rainbow Dash said quietly.

“Exactly,” Spitfire confirmed. “I hope you understand a bit more now.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. She actually wanted to know some more, to get some additional details. But just then, her communicator began to beep. The blue pegasus sighed.

“Seems like the lesson’s over for now,” she said to Spitfire. “Anyway, thanks a lot, Spitfire. I better tell Lightning Bolt about everything.”

“I suggest you rather bring her here after you come back from the mission,” Spitfire suggested. “I may tell you some more later, too. Now, get going.”

Rainbow Dash saluted and left the room, heading to Mission Control. Her prediction about a sortie order just came true.

-----------------

1000 hrs
The Crystal Empire, Mirage squadron base

As Rainbow returned back to Mission Control, she noticed her friends were already assembled before the monitor, listening to Gale’s instructions about the upcoming mission. The crimson pegasus greeted Rainbow Dash.

“Good to see you back with us, Mirage 1. Allow me to recap the situation briefly. We have just received a transmission from the ponies that are on their way to the Crystal Empire. By analyzing the coordinates, we’ve managed to trace their location. They are currently on the Winterbliss Fields, an area about 10 km away from the Crystal Empire. We warned them to remain there, as the Exiles are trying to locate them, too. You will have to secure their position so that our own forces can be sent to assist those ponies in reaching the Crystal Empire without the risk of Exiles following them. You have permission to eliminate any enemy units you come across. I suggest you get going immediately.”

“You got it!” Rainbow Dash complied.

Once the monitor had been turned off, the seven pegasi left their base and took flight, heading for the frozen peaks. They hoped that their companions would hold on their own until they arrive.

==========

1015 hrs
Winterbliss Fields

The sun kept shining in the sky, its beams piercing through several clouds. The entire scenery seemed peaceful; even the wind was blowing gently. Cloud Kicker kept rotating her head around, trying to witness as much natural beauty as she could.

“You know, this place reminds me of Shimmerwood,” she confessed. “The only difference that it has mountains instead of forests.”

“Winterbliss Fields don’t always look so pretty,” said Lightning Bolt. “This region is usually plagued with long, savage snowstorms, though they are much less common during the summertime period. It is said that this place was much more calm before King Sombra began his reign…”

Rainbow Dash was just about to interrupt her and remind all pegasi about their mission, but Gale did that instead, as he contacted the blue flier.

“Come in, Mirage 1. Do you read?”

“Yeah, I read you, Gale,” Rainbow replied.

“Good. Maintain your present course. You should reach the Canterlot group within ten minutes or so. We’re having full control over this region, so I can monitor your progress constantly. If anything urgent comes up, I’ll let you know immediately.”

“Understood.”

Firefly felt an urge to speak with the Wonderbolt operator as well.

“Gale, can I ask you a question?”

“You just did, Flash,” the crimson pegasus joked. “What is it?”

“Back in the base, you said that we shouldn’t let the Exiles know the location of the Crystal Empire… Does that mean they don’t know where it is?”

“I can safely assume that they don’t even know it has returned after a thousand year old slumber,” Gale informed her.

While this news did benefit the ponies from EAF, Cloud Kicker began wondering aloud.

“But… didn’t that Aurora pony say she’s been spying events in Equestria for the last decade or so?”

“Even if she really did, it seems her main point of interest was Canterlot,” said Gale. “She most likely wasn’t really interested in anything beyond it, at least not in its northern borders.”

“Then we better make sure it stays that way,” Rainbow decided. “Come on, everypony! Pick up the speed!”

“I’ll go ahead and inform the Canterlot group of your arrival. Good luck, Mirage. Remember, their lives are in your hooves.”

Once Gale cut the link, Fluttershy turned to Rainbow. The yellow pegasus appeared to be genuinely concerned.

“I wonder how many of them managed to survive…”

“No use thinking about it, Fluttershy. When we get there, we’ll help them get to the Crystal Empire. That’s all that matters. Let’s move it!”

The seven fliers began to flap their wings more intensively, hoping to reach their companions in time. And yet, their battle had already begun…

-----------------

More than 340 earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns were approaching the area designated by Gale. It was a wide open field, covered with snow, and with a small frozen lake nearby. It did seem like a good spot to organize themselves, but when one of the pegasus squadrons returned from reconnaissance, they did not bring positive news.

“Sir, the Exiles are catching up to us!” the dark orange flier reported to the leader of the earth pony unit. “There at least 150 ground troops and no less than 5 pegasus squadrons. Those on the ground have artillery with them, too.”

“This is bad…” the unicorn leader commented. “If they find us here, we’ll be sitting ducks. I don’t think we should be stopping here.”

“We can’t endanger our companions in the Crystal Empire, Diamond Mint,” the earth pony reminded her. “We will remain on our positions. Gale told me that our air support is on the way.”

“It better be a solid support, Night Watch,” the blue unicorn growled. “Contrary to the Exiles, we are almost completely unarmed. And we need to take care of the wounded, too…”

Night Watch knew the situation was serious. During their trek in the mountains, the ponies were caught in a snowstorm and attacked by packs of snow wolves. Although they managed to repel them, at least 50 earth ponies suffered injuries from claws or teeth, while others reported frostbites from chill winds. Plus, the Exiles attacked them at least three times already. The grey earth pony ordered the unicorns to preserve their magic mostly for healing wounds that would endanger one’s life, but their support could turn out necessary to ward off the incoming Exiles.

His thoughts were interrupted when one of the pegasi hollered:

“Here they come!”

“Alright. Battlestations, everypony!” Night Watch ordered. “Protect the wounded. Keep the Exiles away. Try to hold out as long as you can!”

The Exile ground unit leader observed the field through his binoculars. He noticed the earth ponies and unicorns forming two large circular formations. A smirk appeared on his face.

“Hmph. Is this supposed to be their last stand? They are only making it easier for us. All units, move out! Don’t leave a single survivor!”

His own troops began running toward the EAF troops, while the pegasi were ordered to swoop down upon the defensive formations and finish off as many wounded ponies as they could. The Exile ground units were in possession of mobile turrets, and even a few rocket launchers, which were effective in destroying equipment or decimating the enemy formations. They could use them from a safe distance, not worried by possible countermeasures, since the Canterlot unit possessed no such heavy weapons.

Neither of the sides were aware that a single entity observed them from a very high altitude: a single pegasus, bearing a gray coat and dark blue mane remained in place, shifting his sight between the combatants.

The situation quickly become disadvantageous for the EAF troops, as they had no means to avoid the aerial assaults from the pegasi, who wore machine guns on their body. The fliers from EAF were no match for them, having lost over half of their forces in a span of several minutes. Night Watch insisted on remaining in place, but Diamond Mint almost grew desperate, wanting to save as many of her soldiers as she could. Just then, one of the pegasi radioed the earth pony leader in:

“Sir, I got seven friendly signatures on radar, heading our way. It’s our air support!”

“Only seven?” Night Watch grumbled.

He looked into the sky and noticed a rainbow-colored trail heading their way.

“Is that…?!”

“Yes! It’s Mirage squadron!” Diamond Mint exclaimed. “Thank the stars!”

Rainbow Dash and her friends reached the Canterlot units at last. The leader of the enemy Mist squadron also noticed their arrival.

“So, that’s the fabled Mirage squadron, eh?” he remarked. “I remember seeing them back in Canterlot. Let’s see how they will do against our combined might. Mist squadron, Quickshot squadron, engage them. All others, carry on attacking the enemy ground forces!”

When Gale contacted Night Watch and Diamond Mint, they reported to him about dire circumstances and how they had no visible means of halting the Exiles’ offense. Cloud Kicker had an idea, though.

“Mirage 1, I’ll try to take out the enemy units in control of those turrets and rocket launchers. That way our guys will be able to take them over and use them against the Exiles.”

“That’s an excellent idea, Sunny. Make it happen!” Rainbow ordered.

“I’ll go with her,” Derpy proposed.

“OK, you two watch yourselves. We’ll handle the enemy squadrons.”

When Cloud Kicker relayed her concept to Night Watch, he decided to trust her. The two mares flew high above, while the dark-coated earth pony took 30 soldiers with him to act as a distraction for the nearest enemy artillery units. As expected, the Exile soldiers were too occupied with trying to kill the earth ponies. They did not notice Cloud Kicker and Derpy swooping from above and knocking them out of their seats until it was too late. Night Watch immediately took over one of the rocket launcher platforms when Cloud Kicker took out the Exile controlling it.

“Okay, let’s see what this baby can do.”

Once he aimed the platform at enemy ranks and pressed a few buttons, a volley of six rockets bombarded the area ahead of him, breaking one of Exile’s formations and causing them to disperse. The earth pony leader let out a satisfied laugh.

“Ha ha! I’m beginning to like this stuff!”

The Exile ground leader noticed that his ground forces were being slowly diminished by the combined offense, but he could not comprehend how only two pegasi could change the situation so quickly. Of course, he still had some backup companies, and he could call them if necessary, but for now he wanted to take his revenge.

“Quickshot squadron! A change of plans. Eliminate as many earth ponies and unicorns as you can! Mist squadron, engage the enemy pegasi! Take them down!”

“Yes, sir!”

Rainbow and her friends noticed the approaching enemy. Instead of waiting, they darted forward to meet them in battle, aiding the EAF pegasi that remained alive. Rainbow managed to defeat two of enemy fliers rather quickly, with Medley assisting her in taking down the third opponent. Before the blue pegasus flew at him, Medley tackled the enemy flier from behind and kicked him away, sending him straight toward Rainbow’s uppercut. When one of the Exile pegasi engaged Fluttershy, she managed to distract him long enough for Lightning Bolt to deliver her Shining Spark attack into his stomach. Stunned by the immense force of the blow, the pegasus was eliminated when both Lighting and Fluttershy kicked him downward to the ground. The friendly pegasi decided to pull back and treat wounds, so they could rejoin the battle later.

One of the Mist squadron fliers had his eyesight fixed on wounded ponies, surrounded by Night Watch’s soldiers. But he never got a single kill from his attack. Derpy suddenly appeared before him, throwing a snowball into his face and temporarily blinding him. Seconds later, the Exile flier met his demise, as bullets fired from a mobile turret controlled by an EAF soldier pierced his body. His lifeless corpse fell down, crashing almost next to Diamond Mint, who tried to blast another Exile with an energy beam. The sight of bloodied pony corpse caused the unicorn to cover her mouth, trying not to vomit. She quickly averted her gaze and carried on assisting her troops.

The Exile leader’s frustration grew. His troops were losing to a single pegasus squadron and a company of ponies at least twice as small as his! He could not stand for this humiliation.

“Seems like we have no choice… 23rd and 24th Support Companies, you’re up!”

Even though no less than a hundred Exile troops appeared within a few minutes later, the ponies from EAF still rounded themselves around the wounded, not wanting to leave their position.

“We won’t stand a chance like this!” Diamond Mint exclaimed. “We must head for the Crystal Empire!”

“Not yet!” Night Watch shouted. “We have to keep fighting!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! They’ve got us pinned down! It’s the only way!”

Rainbow contacted Gale, trying to get him to send any additional support units as well. Unfortunately, most of them were already elsewhere, trying to establish safe positions in the region.

“The rescue units are on standby, but I can’t send them while the enemy is still out there. Sorry, Mirage, I’m afraid you’re on your own,” said Gale.

Rainbow was, naturally, ready to keep fighting, but what about the ponies on the ground? Would they take the risk as well? Just then, Gale contacted Rainbow’s team again.

“Wait… I’ve just received a message… What is this? It’s a request for a vector of enemy location…”

-----------------

Princess Luna exited the chamber and emerged on the balcony at the highest floor of the castle. She was the one who issued the order for the chief operator in the castle, who, in turn, relayed the order to Gale. Celestia stood right next to her.

“I’m sure you have felt this, Sister,” said Luna. “How much longer should we remain idle while our subjects are suffering?!”

“Luna, I understand how you feel, but please remember — the power we possess can easily break out of control if we are not careful,” Celestia reminded her. “We can only use it—”

“If these circumstances are not dire, then pray tell, what is!” Luna exclaimed. “I do not know what course of action you will choose, Sister, but I will not stand for this anymore! That fiend Aurora must realize what mistake she made by threatening Equestria.”

Celestia remained silent, perhaps trying to find another solution. Resorting to violence was always a final option for her. Luna carried on.

“We have every right to use our power now that the Exiles are running free in Equestria. This shall be a severe blow for them and their leader. But I will require your assistance, Sister… We will support each other and keep ourselves from abusing our power. It was given to us so that we could protect our subjects… We cannot abandon them in this dark hour! Please...”

The white alicorn was finally convinced. She made a single nod, and Luna responded the same way. Both alicorns closed their eyes. Their horns began to glow. The Princess of the Sun began to flap her wings and hover above...

-----------------

1200 hrs
Winterbliss Fields

In a brief moment, a bright flash of light occurred over the battlefield. The ponies covered their eyes to avoid being blinded.

“What’s going on? They sky just lit up!” Medley exclaimed.

It only lasted for a few seconds, though. The light of the sun then got a little more dim, as several concentrated beams shined down… in the direction of the Crystal Empire. Nopony knew what could this possibly mean, but the Exile commander saw this as a sign.

“Hmm… It seems the gods are on our side. I knew there was something hidden in these mountains! I should tell Lady Aurora right now.”

As he tried to contact her, the pegasi from Mirage squadron still didn’t know what was going on. Medley and Cloud Kicker noticed a faint light building up where the Crystal Empire was located. That was about 5 kilometers away from their current location. Rainbow then heard a beeping sound, similar to the one alerting a flier of an incoming attack.

“Hey, what the hay? Is my radar on the fritz?” she wondered.

“It’s showing up on mine, too,” Lightning Bolt confirmed. “A massive energy spike…”

Firefly’s eyes widened. She finally began to realize what was about to happen.

“We better split, girls! Things are about to get ugly… for the Exiles, at least.”

The fliers did as she said. They landed on the ground close to the Canterlot group. Some Exiles also began to show signs of anxiety. Their leader finally managed to contact Aurora.

“I hope you have good news for me, Major,” the alicorn said through the speaker.

“Yes, my Lady. It would seem we found a trace that will lead us to Celestia. A beam of light just showed us the way.”

“A beam of light, you say?” Aurora said sceptically.

“I cannot send you an image; there’s too much interference here, but I assure you, Lady: it’s the right way,” the aquamarine earth pony replied. “I will send you our exact loca—”

“Major! The light!” one of his soldiers exclaimed. “It’s getting bigger!”

Within the next few seconds all Aurora could hear was a terrified scream and ear-piercing static before the communication link was lost. All attempts at restoring it failed.

“Major…! Major, come in!” Aurora ordered.

When no response came, she lowered her sight.

“What could have happened… No…! Could it be…? It’s not possible…!”

Aurora could not see it, but her soldiers certainly did. It was the last sight they saw in their lives. A massive yellow-orange energy beam struck the battlefield and began to plow through the ranks of the Exiles. Anypony struck by the beam suffered enormous pain from intense burns, dying only seconds later. All artillery weapons that were under their control had been melted and destroyed as well.

Though that beam only lasted about 30 seconds, it destroyed pretty much the entire order in the Exile army, killing most soldiers and sending the other into panic. Those who managed to survive tried to flee, but another phenomenon finished what the scorching beam did not. Four smaller beams of silvery light rained down from the clouds in quick succession, hitting the ground and sending any Exiles unlucky enough flying in every direction. Some of them landed at the edges of nearby mountains.

A deathly silence fell in the snowy peaks. The Exiles that were sent here had been almost completely wiped out.

Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, their friends and the ponies from Canterlot unit watched the unfolding spectacle in amazement.

“What… what just happened?” Cloud Kicker blurted out.

“I don’t know, but it took care of the Exiles,” Derpy replied.

“Yeah. All red signatures are gone from my radar,” Lightning Bolt confirmed. “Unbelieveable…”

“That was both incredible… and scary,” Medley added.

Rainbow reached her communicator when Gale tried to call her.

“Mirage 1, do you read? Give me a SITREP.”

“The Exiles have been taken care off,” Rainbow responded. “We saw some huge beams tearing through them. Do you know what happened, Gale?”

The Wonderbolt operator remained silent for a few seconds, but when he spoke, his voice was calm and collected.

“Yeah. It seems the sun and the moon really were shining upon you this time.”

Now everything was clear for the ponies from EAF. They all started to cheer and celebrate their victory, but then Medley noticed four winged shapes leaving the airspace. Those four pegasi managed to escape the onslaught.

“Hey! They’re getting away!” the green pegasus reported.

“Want us to go after them, Gale?” Rainbow asked.

“No. I’ll send an interceptor squadron from Cloudsdale to stop them. They won’t get far,” Gale replied. “I told the rescue units to go and pick up the wounded. All units, return to base. I’ve just got a message from the Royal Sisters. They will be conducting a special meeting at the castle grounds soon.”

Rainbow told their friends to follow her back to the Crystal Empire, but then… She heard a whooshing sound coming from above. The blue pegasus looked up, but didn’t see anyone.

“What is it, Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked.

“No, nothing… I must be hearing things. Let’s get going. Did anypony get hurt?”

Aside from minor bruises and general exhaustion, the pegasi were fine. Only Fluttershy was slightly injured in the right wing, as a couple of bullets from an enemy’s machine gun grazed it. It wasn’t too serious, though. Firefly was worried that even though they had obtained an important victory, Aurora could actually learn the location of the Crystal Empire…

==========

1229 hrs
Crystal Mountains airspace

The four Exile pegasi couldn’t comprehend what happened. They were winning, but suddenly everything turned for the worse.

“What in the Tartarus’ name happened?” one of the fliers asked. “Did you see that…? All our comrades burned to ashes…”

“It’s the work of EAF, I bet,” the second pegasus said. “They must have some sort of secret weapon hidden there. It’s the only logical explanation.”

“Whatever it was, we better hurry and let Lady Aurora know about it,” another one suggested.

The last pegasus was about to agree with his companions’ plan, but he noticed a lone signature on his radar and warned the others about it. It appeared right in front of them, and their IFF couldn’t identify it as friendly or enemy. A few seconds later, the signature turned out to be a lone pegasus with a gray coat and dark blue mane. He wore no vest.

All four Exile fliers stopped to face this unknown pony.

“Who are you? Another one of Celestia’s dogs?” the light-brown flier asked.

The gray pegasus had his sight lowered and didn’t look at the one who spoke to him, but he lifted his head up moments later. His bloody red eyes combined with his angered glare made two of the Exile fliers feel uncomfortable. They also noticed his body was covered in scars.

“I was once called a dog… but I serve no one,” the gray pegasus replied.

His voice sounded like gruff growling.

“In that case, don’t get in our way,” the light-brown Exile told him. “Move aside and we will spare you.”

“I will not. You should have stayed and died with the others. Curse your luck for running into me…”

The gray pegasus extended his wings and entered a battle stance. The four Exiles looked at each other and began to laugh.

“You want to fight all four of us? You must be in a hurry to die!” the dark-green flier scoffed.

“It is not me who will die…”

Without warning, the gray flier darted toward the group and tackled the one to the right. He then delivered four quick punches to his stomach and face, followed by a swift kick. The force of these blows was immense, and the Exile fell down to the cold ground, much to his companions’ surprise. They didn’t even see their opponent attack.

“I’ve killed ponies less deserving of death…” the gray pegasus growled. “Your move.”

“Why you…!”

The second Exile flier charged at the mysterious pegasus, angered by his taunt. But he easily avoided his punch by darting back a little bit and immediately countered with a powerful kick to the gut, stunning the orange flier. He then delivered two more punches to his face, knocking some teeth out in the process. The gray pegasus sent his foe down with another strike to his head.

“Two more…” he uttered.

“W-Who is this guy?!” the light-brown pegasus asked.

“I don’t know, but whoever he is, he is no ordinary pegasus,” the other one replied. “Let’s attack him from both sides. He won’t be able to take on us at the same time.”

All the gray pegasus gave out was a tiny smirk. When the two Exiles came flying at him, he easily avoided their attacks by swaying his body to the sides, then used his front hooves to block the brown pegasus’ attack. Then he hit his face with a powerful headbutt, knocking him away. Before he knew what was happening, the other Exile received a kick to his neck. Its strength sent the Exile plummeting to his doom. If the fall did not kill him, then the broken remains of his skull impaling his brain upon hitting the ground head first certainly did.

“Now it’s just you…” the gray pegasus turned his sight to the light-brown Exile.

Seeing he was no match for this unknown fighter, he turned around, trying to flee, but to no avail. The gray pegasus appeared right before him and stared his red eyes into his.

“You won’t escape me…”

“W-Who… who are you?” the light-brown flier asked with a trembling voice.

In his own eyes, the opponent was not a pegasus. This gray-coated entity rather appeared to be some sort of a demonic winged horse.

“Me? I am just a specter of a war from many years past… yet I still linger in this world. But you will not,” the gray pegasus answered.

He darted toward the Exile and stunned him with a quick punch to the gut before grabbing his head with his front hooves.

“N-No… Please…!”

The gray pegasus ignored him and snapped his neck, ending his life. He took a few deep breaths, looking around him. Four dead bodies were now laying on the snow, staining it red with blood. The flier shifted his gaze to his hooves, which were also slightly red.

“Heh…as expected, no match for me. I still got it,” he said to himself.

His eyes looked at the horizon. The expression on his face showed signs of curiosity.

“That Mirage squadron… and their leader… Those are some very interesting individuals. I should keep observing them… Perhaps my time here will not go to a waste after all.”

He then flew up high and disappeared among the clouds.