I was sure that I was dead, without a doubt in my mind. But how am I able to think? How am I able to still think in the back of my mind? Why do I still see nothing but these images of Spitfire dancing around my head? Well, I guess it can’t be all that bad, I guess since I can’t see her anymore since I’m dead. Damn I’ll miss her though, I only wish I could have told her how I really felt about her, and who knows; maybe she would have felt the same way about me. I can even hear her name now, crystal clear; it’s almost as if she’s talking to me. Ace, she kept repeating, Ace, Ace, Ace,
SLAP!
“Please wake up! Come back to us Ace!” roared Spitfire, “We need you!” I then felt tears roll down onto my face from her. “I need you…”
I then opened my eyes, to see that I was in a hospital cot, IV in my left hoof, and I was covered in bandages, but I could still move a little bit, but everything hurt, and something was wrong but I couldn’t quite put my hoof on it. “What, what happened?” I asked dizzily.
Spitfire smiled. “Well, you got knocked out by one of king Inferno’s stealth force alicorns. You broke both of your wings. We found you down on the ground pretty banged up and passed out, but we found a way to carry you back. You’ve have been knocked out since.”
I then began to panic, “but Manehattan, what about Manehattan?!”
Spitfire put her hoof on mine and she calmed me down with her soft touch. “Don’t worry,” she said, “Manehattan is safe. Not a single dark pony got through the advancing forces on them, so now they have been driven back across the sea to Reigns, where King Inferno is currently in power.”
I then finally could relax, knowing that my family and everyone that I held close were safe from the ferocious advance of the dark ponies. Even that thought however, and with Spitfire by my side, I couldn’t shake off this strange feeling that I had. “So how long have I exactly been out?” I asked.
Soarin then cut in, who then offered me a glass of cool water. “You’ve been knocked out for about 5 days, the doctors couldn’t revive you so quickly because you had lost so much blood and you had broken both of your wings, you can’t quite fly yet but they are numbed up so that you can’t use them.”
“Lovely,” I said putting on a pouting face. “So in a nutshell I’m grounded, so I can’t fly with you all when the go ahead for the next mission is given.”
“Not exactly lieutenant,” called Shining Armor walking into the tent. He removed his helmet and placed it on my night stand while I lay in the cot unable to move.
“Commander,” I said raising a hoof in brief salute, but a sharp pain soon caught my leg and I quickly put it down again. “I’m sorry things didn’t go as planned sir, I might have been a little too anxious when I went after the stealth alicorns.”
Shining Armor nodded his head, but then put his hoof on my shoulder. “It’s understandable lieutenant,” he said with an understanding expression. “We had forgotten that reigns was known for the stealth force of alicorns that were in its army, we should have known that they were out there, but with two major battles back to back at neighagra and north of Manehattan, we haven’t had that much time to get in depth into what kind of force Marina and Reigns had in their military.”
I then looked at him with intent. “So now what do we do?” I asked. “We can’t out maneuver them, they’re too fast, and more-a-less their brain runs as fast as they fly. The next time I go up there, I don’t know if I’m coming down in one piece going up against those alicorns.”
“Which is understandable,” said Shining Armor, “but not impossible. We have our next mission now that we have gained the upper hand in this accursed war. The Kings are now on the defending end and not the offense now that they have been driven back into their land. The next operation will be an aerial and ground invasion. We will rely on the element of surprise in order to get into Marina and Reigns, going into Marina first, seeing as it is the closest to Equestria. We are expecting a long and hard fight though, so it will not be an easy task.”
“So what’s the plan?” I asked.
Shining Armor then pulled open a map and showed it to me. “Everypony on Camp Eclipse is already well aware of the operation; we were briefed on it the day when everypony came home from the battle of Manehattan. We’re here as of right now,” he pointed to the spot 5 miles to the south of Ponyville. “When we eventually get into Marina, we will set up basecamp at Aquarious, a small coastal town not far from the central city of Atlantis, where Typhoon is currently in power. We are expecting everything to be thrown at us, artillery, pegasi divisions, armored, even the stealth alicorns from Reigns. King Typhoon isn’t going to want to give up his spot on the throne so easily, so it’s going to get chaotic.”
“In the chaos,” I said looking at the map, “How are we supposed to know who is friend and who is foe?”
“Good question,” said Shining Armor rolling up the map again. “Every squadron is required to have some sort of identification that can be seen on their uniforms so that we know who is friend and who is foe. We have decided to not just incorporate the Equestrian flags on uniforms anymore because we have discovered that some of the ponies from earlier battles have been taken in as prisoners of war, so they have some undercover ponies, but we won’t know who until we reach Marina. So take some time to discuss it with your squadron, and when you have decided, we will send it to a tailor to have the design sewn on your uniforms. Until then however, you have 3 days to invade something, as the invasion is 5 days away. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir,” I said raising a hoof.
“Good,” he said as he began to walk out of the infirmary tent, “Oh, and lieutenant.”
“Yes Sir?”
“Get well soon.” With that, Shining Armor left the infirmary tent, and left me alone to our squadron to see what ideas we had for a symbol of some sort.
What was once a peaceful infirmary had become a mad house of debate and discussion. A lot of ideas were presented for a symbol, but each was lacking something. Asteroid Run came up with a pin style symbol of Wings and a Star, but it didn’t work due to the fact that our squadron wasn’t just pegasi anymore. Star Shine came up with a flag idea where it was a yellow flag with a light yellow stripe down the middle, but it lacked the flare and could easily be confused with another flag. Soarin came up with an idea of a star with a small saying underneath, but of course he wanted to add a picture of one of his pies on both sides, and of course everypony immediately said no to that.
“Come on everypony,” I said out of my cot having a sip of water, “We have some good ideas, but they all lack that basic sense of unity.” I then looked up at the emblems as Spitfire was holding the flag emblem made by Star Shine, with Soarin’s emblem, the pie parts being cut off quickly with scissors. I then pointed at the somewhat interesting image. “Spitfire,” I said pointing my hoof at her, “Keep holding the emblems the way that you’re holding them and bring them to me please.”
Spitfire then walked over to me, doing as I had requested, and I looked closely at the design that I could clearly see. It was perfect, the colors had to be changed, but it was perfect in its own little way. The saying was also perfect as well as it read, “For all Equestria.” I smiled brightly. “This is our new flag,” I said holding up the design to the squadron.
They all looked back confused at me. “That’s our new flag?” they said.
“Sort of,” I replied. “What do you think of the colors Green and White stripe, and pegasi wings behind the star in place of those stupid Soarin pies.”
Soarin took great offense to this as he finished another one of his pies. “I RESENT THAT!” he remarked, but Spitfire was close to silence him but pressing her hoof down on his snout.
“Ignore him,” she said.
“But yea what do you guys think?” I said holding up the image again. Asteroid Run and Star Shine trotted over to look at the new design.
“I think it looks pretty good,” said Star Shine with a smile, “Something for everypony is on it.”
Asteroid Run nodded. “I agree,” He said, “It’s not just praising one race of ponies but instead it’s more-a-less combining them.”
“So then,” I said, “This is our new flag!”
“Hurrah!” they replied. Spitfire merely smiled and nodded her head in agreement. She then looked at me with a sympathetic look in her eyes. I wasn’t quite sure what it meant, but I was glad that everyone was happy.
~~~
I finally had a chance to myself for one night, no nurses, no doctors, no pony but me, and me alone. It was night time as I could look out of the crack in the tent’s opening and look out and see the moon, where Princess Luna is said to still be imprisoned. This was one night where I actually was rather lonesome. I had constantly been surrounded by my squad mates since I first awoke from my coma 2 days earlier. The time for the invasion was drawing closer and closer, this I was well aware of but I couldn’t quite put my hoof on what was bothering me. I just softly closed my eyes, hoping and praying that maybe I could get some sleep.
“Ace?” said a familiar voice I could hear walking into the tent. “Are you awake?”
I opened my eyes to see spitfire not in her uniform for once, which was against the camp rules, but everypony was asleep, besides, the only ponies that are allowed in here are visiting ponies, doctors, nurses, and the occasional visit from the commander. I was happy to have it just be me and Spitfire for once though, I’ve been longing for this moment for a long time.
“Yea,” I said. “I’m awake, don’t worry I’m not going to die on you tonight.”
Spitfire smiled calmly. “That’s good,” she said as she stood next to my hospital cot. “How are you feeling?”
I flexed my wing moving it up and down. “I feel fine,” I said. “The doctor says that at this rate I’ll be ready to fly for the invasion of Marina in two days. He’s taking off the bandages tomorrow morning and then I go through a few flight exercises to get my wings strong again.”
“Well that’s good,” she said with a small smile, but then she looked at me with a deep loving look in her eyes, like a mare looking at her colt that had just been born. “I’m really glad you’re ok, I was really scared that you weren’t going to make it after that hit you took from the Stealth team.”
I smiled again to reassure her. “Don’t worry,” I said, “It will take more than that to kill me.” At that moment, I immediately looked deep into her eyes, and her eyes connected deeply into mine. It was as if I had found a treasure, and I wanted to take it with me wherever I went, and always keep it close to me. I couldn’t escape the sight of her beautiful orange eyes. I had to tell her now; this might be my only chance to really tell her. We both began to slightly blush, but Spitfire was the first to talk.
“Ace,” she said crawling on top of me, breaking a larger blush, “I want to tell you something, but I don’t know if I’m saying it too fast or if I’m rushing into this.”
I began to blush brighter as well, “What is it?” I asked.
Spitfire then began to come closer as our breaths became synchronized. Her lips were soon hovering above mine, as she softly closed her eyes as I wrapped my arms around her. “I love you,” she said.
“I love you too,” I said as our lips finally met as we shared our tender embrace for each other in the darkness of the night that surrounded us.
~~~
The invasion was at last one day away. Camp Eclipse had once turned from a peaceful station located in the Northern Everfree Forest, to a mad house. Squadron supplies were roaring in and out by train, munitions were being checked and prepared, uniforms pressed, squadron symbols made, check lists, maps flying, etc. No more new recruits were coming in by train now, as it was already much too chaotic as it was. It finally got to a point where the Royal Guard commissioned the Equestria Railroad to build a second line to the station due to all of the trains that were coming and going.
I had never been surrounded by so much chaos in my life, not even in Manehattan with all of the busy streets that crisscrossed town. The once peaceful sounds of birds chirping and the wind blowing gently through the trees had been drowned out by the sounds of preparation for the upcoming invasion. It was madness, but it was necessary. At last the night before the battle finally arrived; Everypony was gathered in the mess hall for final preparations before the long battle to take back Marina, beginning with the raid of the small port town of Aquarius on the coast. All of the squadrons were gathered together in their respective companies, among them of course being Charlie Company, with their new flag, exactly as Ace had requested. Cloud Storm once again stood in the center of all of the squadrons. As he looked around, he could see some ponies were praying, some ponies were putting on war paint, others were writing letters back home, some were even sharing memories of their lives before they enlisted in the Royal Guard. It was a time to regain confidence and strength, not just for Cloud Storm, but also for all of us. Of course, when it came to confidence in our squadron, Soarin had just the answer.
He threw a pie in the center of our group, it was freshly baked, and it was placed in a tin that had a small print of our flag at the bottom of it once the pie was gone. “This pie,” he began, “is not just for me.”
“Well that’s a first,” laughed Asteroid Run.
Soarin merely rolled his eyes and ignored him, “Instead,” he continued, “This pie is for everypony in our squad, for all of the times that we got to spend with each other here at Camp Eclipse, before we walk into the fires, or oceans rather, of hell. Everypony knows that this could be the last time we all get to spend time with our friends.”
Soarin then looked up at me and Spitfire with a smile on his face. We were holding each other close, aware that the invasion tomorrow could be the end for either one of us, or both of us. We didn’t want to lose each other ever, but if it ever did come down to the fact that someone had to die to protect the other, then so be it. I would do anything for Spitfire, even if it meant going to the grave and not going back home to see my brother Wolf again. “Even our loved ones,” he said trotting over to us. He then cut a piece of pie out of the tin, and handed it to me. “This first slice of pie,” he said handing it to us “goes to our squadron leaders, and the only couple currently in the squadron, Lieutenant Spitfire, and Lieutenant Ace. Huzzah!”
“Huzzah, Huzzah!” cheered the rest of the squad.
Spitfire and I could only smile with happiness and content. “Thank you,” she said softly taking a bite of the pie. “Thank you everyone for supporting us, and being there for us. We hate to be called your leaders because truth is; we’re all in this together, like me and Ace.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I said smiling.
“Alright everyone,” called Cloud Storm from the center of the mess hall. He slowly got up from the central table where a map of the sea showing Marina and Equestria was spread out wide along the table. “As you all are aware I’m sure,” he began. “This is going to be one of the largest invasions that we have ever done in the name of Equestria. The crusades did not even come close to this size at we merely approached them first, but this time we are invading a country to restore power to Princess Marina over the oceans. There will be rough seas on our way there though, do not expect it to be an easy voyage.”
Cloud Storm picked up his hat, and placed it back on the top of his messy mane. “I will be joining you in battle, as I am a native of Marina, and Princess Marina is my aunt. I’m sorry I have kept all of this from you, as I should have told you earlier. When we were forced to leave Atlantis, it really hurt her both physically and emotionally. I couldn’t bear to watch her pain, so I became a temporary soldier for the Equestria Royal Guard to retake my homeland. However, despite what happens here, I think we can all take a lesson from Charlie Companies flag,” he said as he looked directly at our flag. “Charlie Company has a star and underneath it reads a small line which reads: For All Equestria. I think we can all take something from what this means. Tomorrow is just the day of our death, tomorrow we go down for our country and nation. Tomorrow we go for every pony in Equestria, today isn’t a day of defeat, but rather it is a day of destiny. Therefore, tomorrow’s operation I am naming D-Day. We divide and conquer, and dispel the evil that has gripped its hand on our beloved home. Rest well tonight cadets, tomorrow is going to be a long day. Dismissed!”
“Yes Sir!”