The First Casualty

A MLP FiM fanfiction by MegaColt

“Everyone is a hero and a villain. And no one knows who is the victim and who is the aggressor. And what is 'peace'? All questions commonly asked about any war in history.”-Brett Thompson, Ace Combat Zero

It began as an ordinary peacekeeping mission. My fighter squadron had been assigned to perform at an air show in the heart of the Republic of Griff, just outside of their capital city of Stalliongrad. The Republic of Griff was a rebel nation, one that was entirely backwards from Equestria, their ideals and motives the complete opposite of our own. They were a fierce and warlike species those griffons. They valued their freedom and individualism over all else and they would die before they bowed to our monarchs again. That is why the griffons rebelled so many winters ago. Today, my fighter squadron was the pawn of compromise. We were being sortied with no weapons, no flares, and with only a quick radio transmission stating that Equestria was sending a delegation of fighters to compete in the annual Republic Air Show. From the moment we climbed into our fighters I feared that we were on a course for disaster.

===

The monarchy never saw the rebellion coming. Within weeks, the mountains to the north of Canterlot had been over run with griffon freedom fighters who had appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Dozens of lives were being lost on both sides in skirmishes that were every bit as savage as they were brief. Celestia couldn't stand to see such senseless violence happening within her domain. Much to the Royal Guard's chagrin, the Princess ordered her commanders to pull their troops out of the besieged region. Reluctantly, they obeyed their monarch's orders and took up defensive positions at the region's borders. It seemed that all of the mountains belonged to the griffons, but there was still one group of Equestrian holdouts who had yet to withdraw.

===

As I steered my plane onto the runway behind my comrades, I felt extremely uneasy. My stomach felt as if it were turning inside out. I breathed in deeply and slowly as I tried to relax myself, but I knew in my heart of hearts that our mission would end badly. Our country had apparently done far more than insult the griffons, but exactly what Equestria had done to anger the Republic of Griff's government remained on a strictly need-to-know basis. I incessantly tried to find out, but in the end I was told in a half joking manner that if they were to tell me then they'd have to kill me. So, I grudgingly climbed into my jet and took off with the rest of my squadron. As we entered the border zone I prayed for our safety, but I doubted if even divine intervention could stop the unforeseen disaster that I knew lay in the future.

===

In the decades since the rebellion, both nation’s militaries had grown at a steadfast pace. Jet fighters have since taken the place of the talons and the wings that had dominated aerial combat for centuries prior. The weapons involved went from spears and swords to things every bit as horrible and many times more advanced. What made matters worse was the fact that the two nation’s relationship was tense. Each side understood the others' desires. However, from time to time the two nations liked to clash. Such conflict is inevitable between two such very different countries so very near each other. Still, nothing ever comes of these misunderstandings. In the end a compromise is always worked out and crisis averted before any blood is spilled.

===

What truly worried me was something that was viewed as a mere complication by the high command. We had never received a response from the griffons. Despite this, we continued with our peaceful mission. After an hour or so of casual flying we could see the Republic Airfield in the distance and a small handful of stunt planes performing loops and barrel rolls above a roaring crowd. There wasn’t a single Griffon fighter in sight.

“Shadowbolt 4 to Shadowbolt 1. Captain, there aren’t any other fighters in the air. Are you sure we’re at the right air show?” I radioed in to my flight leader. He must have sensed the fear in my voice because he merely scoffed. He replied in his usual overconfident and boisterous voice, but I never heard him. The ominous screeching of warning klaxons had suddenly filled my ears. A dozen or more enemy jets descended from the clouds above, their jet black planes heavily armed with missiles and machine guns.

===

It had been decades since Equestrian blood was shed by the talons of a griffon. It last happened during the siege of Stalliongrad. There had been a regiment of the Royal Guard that had refused to pull out of the region, fortifying themselves within the walls of the ancient city fortress. The walls did them no good as the griffons needed only to swoop in from the skies above and attack the encircled guards below. This is of course what the rebels chose to do. The battle’s aftermath can only be described as a massacre. What little remained of the fallen guards was piled at the gates and set ablaze. In Griff, the day is celebrated as their day of independence. In Equestria, the event is marked as an example of the Griffon’s savagery and ruthlessness.

===

Out of the corner of my eye I could see it making a beeline for my jet. The missile, deliverer of death, had picked me. There was no dodging or outrunning it. There was only time, which seemed to grow more still as the hissing of the enemy’s missile began to drown out the klaxons. The klaxons and the hissing, the warning lights flashing a crimson red inside of my cockpit. The soft glow of the flames that trailed the reaper-like missile, that is all I knew as I jerked the ejection handle upwards with my sweaty hooves. And then I fell into the dark void, for then even nothingness was not. I am the first casualty.