Friendship and a 120mm Machine Gun

by FreedomRiders

Chapter 3

"Please, there's no need to bow. I sincerely apologize for dropping in without notification, but I am in dire need of your skills," Princess Celestia said as she addressed the uniformed Pegasi of the Wonderbolts. Her arrival was completely unprecedented, to say the least. The group had been preparing for another run of the mill practice session for their next show when the Princess herself had shown up.

Spitfire was the first of the Wonderbolts to rise up from her bow, her eyes narrowed from the rather ambiguous wording from the ruler of Equestria. "What is it, princess?" she asked.

"Approximately one day ago, the Everfree Forest was set ablaze. The Pegasi of Ponyville managed to gather a sizeable force and fight the blaze before myself and my guard could arrive and assist them." Celestia said, watching as all the Pegasi of the team rose up as well. "This event was not an accident."

"How so?" Spitfire asked. She was effectively in her drill sergeant mode and the others were quick to follow her attitude, all of them quickly dropping all pretense of awe of the princess's presence - focused entirely on the task at hoof.

"The heat was of an abnormally high temperature, hotter than any natural flame could have exhibited. The fires burned for one hour, but over half of the forest had been completely engulfed and destroyed," Celestia continued. A gasp was heard, and a few of the Pegasi exchanged quick and uneasy gazes. "On the other side of the forest was the corpse of a Hydra - bisected by what appeared to be magic."

A dead Hydra? Hydras were bad news, but if something or somepony out there could actually kill one, then that was even worse news. "How did it happen?" Fleetfoot found herself asking. Princess Celestia answered by bringing out a few photos from a saddlebag, revealing the semi-scorched remains of the aforementioned Hydra from several angles, including the separated heads.

"Further investigations showed burns of extremely high temperatures, judging by the effects it had on its scales and flesh," the princess continued. "Whatever this did was hot enough to incinerate scales and cut through it like a knife does with butter." Her face contorted for a split second, likely disturbed with the analogy she chose to use. "Then there was the effect it had on the environment."

She brought out the next few photos, revealing what had happened near the riverbank. Sand was turned to glass. Granite was turned into molten lava, completely hardened but somehow still hot to the touch. A massive part of the river had been completely devastated - with steam still hissing from the considerably lower water level. "We've determined that the fires started after catching fire from whatever had destroyed the Hydra, all while happening across the river several dozen meters away."

Whatever had done this was hot enough that mere proximity was enough to start a forest fire. The sense of uneasiness in the room grew considerably, but nopony broke. Spitfire stepped up and asked the next question. "Understood, princess. What is our objective?"

The princess smiled before pulling out another photo. "Whatever had done this was of a huge proportion. Large hoofsteps led away from the scene of what was likely some sort of battle. We couldn't follow those steps for long, as the fields they led into obscured the trail. But we know that the culprit is still in Equestria," she explained as she brought up the images. The Wonderbolts got looks at the large indentations, the implications of size clearly frightening.

Still, they were all up for the challenge. "Want us to warn the nearby towns and cities?" she asked.

"My guard are currently on that mission. I need you to take to the skies and search for the beast. Do not risk yourselves in any way. You're among the fastest ponies in Equestria, able to cover the most distance overhead. Use that skill to keep all ponies safe."

"Ma'am, you mentioned Ponyville," Spitfire said, her tone dropping for a moment. "Is Rainbow Dash-"

"Rainbow Dash is alright. She and Princess Twilight Sparkle spearheaded the defense of the more dangerous flames, and not a single pony was injured," the princess reassured. Much of the Wonderbolts sighed, small grins forming on their muzzles as they heard of Rainbow Dash's safety. "Now, I must return to Canterlot. Please excuse me."

As the Wonderbolts bowed, the princess nodded and turned, leaving with controlled haste. The second the door slammed shut, Spitfire turned. "Alright, we're splitting into pairs. Fleetfoot, you're with me! Blaze and Soarin! Misty Fly and High Winds! Sun Chaser, you're with Lightning Streak! Wave Chill, stick with Wind Waker! Fire Streak and Silver Zoom!" she ordered, continuing to pair them up as the group quickly scrambled to join their respective partners.

The Wonderbolts blasted over the skies of Equestria, splitting up to cover all areas near the Everfree Forest. Fleetfoot and Spitfire soared to the North, just below cloud level as they looked around. Nearby was a small town, which looked fairly unaffected as they continued to survey the area. "Nothing in the vicinity of that area," Spitfire said before veering West a few degrees, followed by Fleetfoot.

The skies were quiet, and everything around the area seemed peaceful. The two mares continued to search, looking for something, anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Their plan was to search all possible plans of travel following the directions the massive hoofsteps had been facing.

"Hey...what're your thoughts on this Hydra killer?" Fleetfoot found herself asking as she kept her eyes peeled.

"I think whatever could take on something like that is a damn menace," Spitfire said. Her tone remained serious, but not at all rough. "Don't tell me you're losing your nerve."

"I'm not. No point in freaking out over this. But something like that is super concerning, don't you think? That death looked...pretty violent," Fleetfoot said. She shuddered a little bit, but the "Especially...you saw the pics of the river, right?"

"Yeah. And that's even more reason to hunt this thing down," Spitfire said. "If something could kill a Hydra like that, then we know for sure that it'll probably take down ponies pretty damn easily. We're not exactly gonna be fighting this thing if we find it, you know?"

"Yeah...but still," Fleetfoot said. "I dunno, just being worried is all."

"Hey," Spitfire said, turning to look at her teammate through her goggles. "It'll all turn out fine. You know how good the Royal Guard are. And Princess Celestia or the Elements of Harmony isn't one to let any danger happen to us."

Fleetfoot sighed. "I hope so," she said as she continued to look down. As she and Spitfire continued to survey the ground, she wondered what exactly could have done such a terrible thing to a Hydra, no matter how hostile one could be towards ponies.

Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of what seemed to be a very distant hum. Her ears flickered, and she stopped flying at once. "Hey, do you hear that?" she asked, hovering in the air.

Spitfire's ears flicked as well. "Yeah. I do. What is that?" she said, having stopped flying as well. The far away sound only grew louder by the second, and the two Pegasi mares began to hear it change from a distant humming sound to a much louder roaring. And it sounded like it was far below them. "Think it's what we're looking for?" Spitfire asked.

"Jeez, I sure hope not," Fleetfoot said, shooting above the clouds and landing on one of them as Spitfire joined her.

The two Wonderbolts peered down from the clouds, searching for something that could possibly be making that noise. What they would see something would be something that warranted a triple take.

A large red contraption shot by underneath them, a blocky shape with odd bumps on the front, and an oddly empty topside - looking less like a viable flying machine and more like a brick with wings. There were a pair of wings on the sides, and several smaller fins behind the main wings near the rear. Multiple plumes of fire jetted out the back of the object - the sound of roaring loudly right behind as it flew by with great speed.

“What the actual…what was that?!” Fleetfoot muttered as the odd and clearly aerodynamic shape veered by as quickly as any well trained Pegasus could fly. The shock factor doubled as five smaller green aircraft flew by as well, their wingtips screaming as several plumes of fire blasted out of the backs of each craft.

These craft were even weirder than the red block with wings - with a smooth oval body sporting fins out of what appeared to be a pair of pod-like protrusions on their backs, as well as large angular wings that stuck out the sides, locked in upward positions. But what was odd was the front of the craft - from what little the Pegasi could see. The head stuck out the front, leaning forward on a neck-like structure between the podlike protrusions. Not much could be seen from where Spitfire or Fleetfoot were currently watching from, but it looked like the head had plenty of windows covering much of the front. With how quickly they shot by, it was almost impossible to see anypony inside.

These smaller craft flew at a much higher altitude, only a few meters below cloud level. The force of the craft sent many clouds - including the ones the two Pegasi mares were hiding in - splitting apart the masses of water drops and ice. The two Wonderbolts were sent spiraling for a moment, with Fleetfoot face planting into another cloud as Spitfire quickly reoriented herself, wings flapping as she managed to stabilize her altitude.

The leader of the Wonderbolts stared as the five smaller green aircraft followed the larger and much blockier one ahead of them - the roars of what was now confirmed to be engines of some sort fading away as the distance grew. “What in Celestia’s name was that?” she muttered. Her shock wasn't very outgoing - it paid well to maintain a sense of calm and control in any unprecedented situation.

"Should we follow?" Fleetfoot asked, quickly yanking her head out of the piece of cloud she'd been haphazardly thrown into. Popping out, she shook her face and mane free of any the cloud, which dissipated into thin air.

"We probably should. I mean, whatever those things are - they aren't pony built. Or licensed," Spitfire said as she looked at the group of unidentified flying objects.

A moment passed as the two Wonderbolts stared after the group of unknown aircraft speeding away from them. "Okay. Then...why aren't we chasing after them? There's a chance they could be pretty dangerous," Fleetfoot asked.

"Our objective is to locate the beast. Or whatever killed the Hydra and burned down half of the Everfree," Spitfire said. "We need to focus on the immediate danger. The skies aren't easy to hide in - especially if we notify the Princess about the presence of possible air threats. But a country with lots of ground to hide in? That needs to take priority."

Fleetfoor eyed the disappearing craft - watching as they became little more than specs in the distance. The roars of their engines could barely be heard thanks to the distance they gained. "Yeah, guess you're right. Not like we can keep up with them at top speed anyways. Damn machines."

"Yeah. I doubt someone can make flying contraptions capable of doing what the Wonderbolts can do," Spitfire chuckled as she flew towards the East, with Fleetfoot following her afterwards.

"Yeah. Hot mares get more fans than bricks with wings, don't you think?" Fleetfoot chortled, swishing her mane in an attempted fabulous manner - though this only got Spitfire to snort. The conversation between the two Pegasi died down as they went back to doing their duty, searching for the unknown threat that Equestria potentially faced.

The five Dopps escorted the Dodai YS through the skies, their pilots all surveying the land before them. One of them eyed the instruments on her console, specifically a radar screen that displayed all friendly forces. "This doesn't feel like any place on Earth," the Dopp pilot said, her voice a little uneasy.

The pilot wore a slim fitting Zeon pilot uniform - similar to what those piloting mobile suits would wear - though this also came with a flight vest and a belt loaded with pouches. The pilot lacked a helmet, instead wearing a headset over her ears. She was a young woman with long black hair tied in a bun behind her head, with tanned skin and thin blue eyes.

"That's because we aren't on Earth, Lyla," a voice over the short range radio said. "Something happened in that storm that turned it into daytime. It's crazy stuff, I'm telling you. It's like we got...teleported."

"Everyone, focus," another voice said, coming from the flight leader. "Check your screens - we got a ping."

The pilot - Lyla - looked down at her instruments to reveal a large cluster of IFF pings. "Five klicks out. Anybody got a visual?" she asked.

"Not yet. We need to get closer. Lower altitude," the Dopp squadron leader ordered. The fighters began to list downwards, angled to perform a slow and steady descent away from the clouds. The Dodai YS was quick to follow their lead, the less agile interceptor bomber swaying slightly at first before stabilizing its descent.

"Three kilometers," a pilot said after a few moments of flight, the area up ahead was revealed. "Steady as we go. Check that IFF again."

"Hm. Looks like they're all friendly. Looks like our allies. Other Remnants?" another pilot said.

Lyla's eyes narrowed as she peered at the concentration of what the computers deemed to be friendly forces. Her eyes widened at once when she realized what they were. "Not just our Remnants! It's our Remnants! It's Phoenix Flight!"

Phoenix Flight was one of many Zeon Remnant cells that had been surviving on Earth since the One Year War. While a large majority of the group consisted of aircraft and mobile suits controlled by veterans of the Earth Attack Force: specifically Zeon's 2nd Terrestrial Attack Corps based out of their 1st Terrestrial Mobile Division, many more were new recruits or other survivors.

It was also the cell that had been followed by the Federation's Garuda-class Aerial Carrier. The fighters and mobile suits had agreed to fight off the enemy ship while transports fled with non-combatants and supplies. The air battle had been brutal - unable to land any killing blows and losing a handful of fighters and bombers, as well as a mobile suit before a flash of light had engulfed the skies, moments before any significant blow to the ship could be dealt.

Lyla remembered when the light had hit her amidst that battle. Her Dopp went from soaring towards the aft of the Federation carrier to falling like a brick through the air. Several Dopps and a Dodai YS had fallen with them, with many others nowhere to be seen. While most of them recovered and quickly managed to take flight once more, two of them were not so lucky.

Lyla shuddered as she saw the two helpless fighters smash into the mountains, the explosions decimating the remains as she flew off with the others. That was almost two days ago, she realized. The Federation carrier had been nowhere to be seen, as well as the rest of their allies. Were they the only ones who made it somehow?

Those questions had plagued her throughout those two days, only dimmed when she finally realized the answer. Phoenix Flight was here, just within reach. Lyla let out a sigh as she eyed her gauges. Her Dopp didn't have any drop tanks, and they'd been relying solely on the propellant that they could carry.

Any minute longer, and they'd be running on fumes. Shaking herself from the thought of crashing, she took a long look at what awaited them.

The area was a large field that was cornered on the other side of a wall of mountains. It was mostly empty, with woods to the far West. The field had to be several kilometers in width, and the grassy area was almost entirely torn up. On the edge of the destroyed grassland was an ACA-01 Gaw: Phoenix Flight's base of operations and main home of all of their noncombatants, specifically families of those in the cell. Near them sat a Fat Uncle - an oddly named Zeon twin rotorcraft meant primarily for heavy supply transport, and two captured Medea transports, which were the Federation's counterparts to the Fat Uncle. Lined up neatly near the larger aircraft were several smaller craft: almost four dozen Dopps, seven Dodai YS bombers, three captured Federation Base Jabbers, two Doras, and a single Luggun reconnaissance craft.

In front of the Gaw - which had its main forward bay open - was a handful of vehicles, consisting of five Magella Attack Tanks, four captured M61A5 Federation Main Battle Tanks painted in Zeon green, and a variety of almost a dozen armored vehicles. Tents and portable complexes were strewn about as well, with some parked vehicles used as makeshift stands to pitch covers over.

The mobile suits served as the greatest concentration of combat force in any army, and Phoenix Flight had quite a few. A Gouf Custom and a Zaku Cannon stood by the Gaw, deactivated with panels and armor open for maintenance. Alongside those suits were a Zaku II F2 wielding a 120mm machine gun and a Dom with a 360mm bazooka. Standing at the edge of the armored column was a Gouf Flight Type and a Desert Gelgoog.

Lyla jumped when her headset's comms fizzled in - the sound of the squad leader's voice entering the radio waves. "This is Bolin, requesting permission to land."

A hearty laugh was the reply. "Of course! We've been waiting for you to arrive!" the captain of the landed Gaw chortled. "Where did you end up? Never mind, just land and join us!"

Lyla smiled, the relief clear on her face as she leaned back in her seat. "That sounds good..." she sighed as she lowered her landing gear and began to direct her Dopp fighter towards the scorched fields facing the Gaw. "Because I really need to use the bathroom right about now..."

The Dopps and the last Dodai YS circled back around, veering to make their landing as the several hundred strong watched and cheered, seeing the fighters coming back home to them. It didn't take long for the group of aircraft to land - with one fighter at a time touching down before the next did the same.

Despite their sense of loss and a clear lack of knowledge of their surroundings, Phoenix Flight celebrated the return of another few of their colleagues.

Miles away from civilization, the Zeon Remnants found happiness - even if it was only for a short time.

Gone was the sight of green and forests. Over the course of several hours, the land had slowly shifted into a much more rocky environment. The footsteps of the two Federation mobile suits made loud cracks in the rock as they walked - their immense mass forming little crevices as they passed.

Rosa was tired. Her stomach growled, but she forced herself to ignore it. Food was scarce, and she wasn't about to eat more than she needed to. Besides, she was still deep in thought over much earlier. The Hizack Custom continued to walk, following the other mobile suit as they crossed the country. "Monroe?" she asked.

"Yes?" Monroe's voice came over the radio.

"...do you think we'll ever catch up to the Atlas?" Rosa asked.

"I hope so," Monroe answered, the blue Hizack's mono-eye whirring about as it swiveled left and right. "If we had enough propellant to make it above the clouds or anything, we'd stay in the skies and search more easily from there. Our best chance is doing so when we actually spot the Atlas, and even then it's a gamble."

"Right...what about the terrain? Think we can climb the mountains or something?" Rosa asked.

"You know mobile suits can't climb. We'd fall and take half the mountain with us or something," Monroe sighed. "Look, what is this about?"

"I...I just wanna talk to you," Rosa said meekly. Meek wasn't something Rosa did often, but when she did - it only usually meant one thing.

Monroe's eyes widened a little before he rubbed his eyes. "I'm not mad, I promise I'm not," he said. "You always act like you shit the bed whenever you think someone's mad."

"I just...I didn't mean to cause so much damage," Rosa said. "I didn't want to destroy the forest. I never had to do close combat before. I just-"

"I know, you're better at sniping and artillery support," Monroe said. "The simulations and test runs don't exactly have us risking actual people in training, you know? It's all mock stuff."

"But still," Rosa muttered. "How do you handle it?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I haven't gotten much into close combat against other mobile suits in live fire - and even then, I usually used Vulcans and a shield - at least before I got this baby," Monroe explained as he patted the Hizack's contrtol panel affectionately. "Now I just use a heat hawk. Even if I don't have one with me right now."

Rosa really wished she'd used a heat hawk as well. It could superheat and still cause some damage - but it was contained and easy to handle. Beam sabers shot out sparks and burned everything near it, and the realization that she could just wave it around and still destroy everything still terrified her. "Then...I won't go into close combat anymore-"

"You know that isn't possible," Monroe said. "You haven't come across any this time, but you'll need to fight off mobile suits in all forms of combat. Well...if we ever come across any."

Rosa looked down. "I just don't want to do something so terrible anymore. What about all the animals in that forest? What if people lived in it? What if-"

"Hey, hey, hey. Stop that line of thought now, Rosa," Monroe quickly warned. "It's all 'what ifs' and 'what could have been' talk at this point. Is that really gonna help you down the road?"

Rosa sighed, knowing the answer. "No..."

"Then we focus on the now, got it? Don't worry about anything else other than finding a way back to the Atlas," Monroe said. "We'll find some cover and stop at nightfall. The sunset shouldn't be too far off anyways."

Rosa let out a groan as she shifted in her seat. Her legs felt sore, and the sensation of pins and needles plagued her ankles as she stared at her feet manning the pedals of her suit. "I just wanna get out and stretch my legs..."

"Just move your head around. At least it'll keep your neck from going sore," Monroe suggested. "We can stretch our arms and legs once we touch down at a safe place. Heck, we can probably just roll around on the dirt if you want."

"Don't tempt me," Rosa said as she looked left - turning her head just enough to hear a few cricks. Before she could turn right, she stopped. Her green Hizack Custom stopped as well, and Rosa gasped. "Monroe! To our left!"

Monroe's blue Hizack stopped moving as wall, turning around to see the Hizack Custom stopped in place, its head and mono-eye looking at a different direction. Monroe followed its gaze, and he froze as well: noticing exactly what Rosa had spotted.

Lying in a small lake formed out of an old crater was a Base Jabber in standard pink and purple Federation colors, resting upside down in the water. Its wings were in good shape, and the chin mounted mega particle cannon showed no signs of any kind of damage. The nearby trees had been crumpled, almost as if it'd made a crash landing of sorts. The only other object that didn't fit in this place was the shattered hand of a mobile suit - specifically the hand of a Gouf Custom, judging by the wrecked blue armor of its wrist.

"...I cannot believe our luck," Monroe said as soon as he found it in himself to speak. A wide grin had split his face as he saw the four massive thermonuclear based VTOL jets on the upside down Base Jabber. "Think it's still in good shape?"

"I hope so! Come on!" Rosa shouted, her mobile suit quickly making its way towards the downed sub-flight system, hurrying around the small lake as Monroe's Hizack followed, both of their moods considerably lightened as their shot at flight lay in the water in front of them.

Perhaps they could make it back to the Atlas after all...

...if it wasn't currently on the other side of the planet. Not that Rosa or Monroe knew that little fact.