Spanish Steel stood on the bridge of the Magnus, the Equestrian Air Fleet's flagship, as it sailed through the air. Four smaller airships flew along her flanks, while squadrons of pegasi flew in formation, some pushing along dark storm clouds that crackled with lightning. They slowly approached the Everfree, other units from Manehattan, Baltimare, Neighpon and other cities advancing from different vectors.
Spanish Steel looked to the helmspony. “Reduce speed,” he said before turning and trotting to a small group of armored pegasi standing near a balcony. “Your saddlebags contain instructions for the unit commanders coming in from other cities. It is vital that you get to them as quickly as possible. Dismissed!”
The balcony windows slid open and the pegasi all marched out, spreading their wings and taking off. Fliers already out in the air broke from their sectors and surrounded each courier in a loose escort formation. The smaller ones had swivel mounts on their backs, with double-barreled rifles mounted on them, belt-fed by saddlebags and controlled by a metal pole connecting the barrels to the back of their armored necks. The larger ones had .30 caliber machine guns hanging off their flanks, also belt-fed from saddlebags.
Spanish Steel watched them for a moment, muttering prayers for them under his breath. He then marched down to several ponies standing next to rather large spotlights with shutters over them. “Signal the other airships to hold position at the edge of the Everfree,” he ordered. “We need to contain the Shadowbolts and stop them cold.”
The helmspony looked over her shoulder at Spanish Steel as he approached. “What about the Ursa Majors, sir?”
Spanish Steel stared out of the panoramic viewport at the star bears as they stood guard around the Castle of the Two Sisters. “At the moment, not a darned thing. Princess Luna reported that a request for aid was sent to the Dragon Clans, but until they show up nothing short of the Diarchs going all-out will stop them.”
The helmspony thought for a moment. “And they'll need all their strength to deal with Tirac?” she thought out loud.
Spanish Steel nodded. “Exactly.”
Near the aft of the bridge, six soldiers sat, three in a row. Each sat in front of a desk, the desk stacked with radio equipment and wires sprouting like vines. One of them adjusted the headset strapped to his head and furiously scribbled down notes. “General!” he said, “lead squadrons report the Shadowbolts are advancing from the Everfree.”
Another spoke up. “They're also reporting storm clouds being moved into position, as well as some of them trying to form twisters!”
Spanish Steel's head whipped around to the radios. “Send word to all pegasi squadrons to move in and stop them, but for Herd's sake keep our own weaponized weather away from the Everfree! Spotlight operators, signal to the other airships to go to full battle stations and fire at will. As for us, charge up the lightning cannons and ready shield spells for point-defense.” He marched to the viewport and looked out of it, even as small puffs of explosions began blossoming in the air.
Formations of pegasi and other flight-capable species swooped and soared, machine guns and rifles firing at the Shadowbolts who, in turn, charged in, heedless of the hail of bullets. Both sides pushed in dark, rumbling clouds that shot out bolts of lightning when kicked, electrocuting their foes. Their charred, smoking bodies plummeted through the sky, crashing into the canopy or ground below.
The Shadowbolts pressed on, ignoring any wounds that weren't instantly lethal or incapacitating to close to foreleg-distance with the defenders of Equestria. They bit, kicked, tackled and hit with all their might, using brute force and sheer numbers to their advantage.
The sun reached its zenith, shining down on a large, empty field as morning turned to afternoon. The stillness was shattered as a large hemisphere of light appeared. It brightened for a few seconds, then quickly faded and disappeared. Eight unicorns in blue uniforms stood in a circle, their horns still glowing and slightly smoking from long-distance teleportation. Several dozen ponies, donkeys, stonebacks and zebras stood in the middle of the group, along with several pieces of artillery, ammunition and other pieces of equipment.
The unicorns looked around, performing a quick visual inspection of everyone there. Satisfied, their horns glowed and shot out beams of energy. The beams linked the horns together and the unicorns disappeared, leaving behind the others.
Within seconds of their arrival, the edge of the Everfree parted. Shadowbolts in the forms of earth ponies and unicorns trotted out, snarling and baring fangs. The unicorns lowered their heads and their horns charged up while the earth ponies pawed at the ground, their hooves starting to glow.
The battalion commander, a unicorn mare named Rough and Ready, began shouting orders. “Machine gunners, cover fire while we get the artillery ready! On the quadruple, everyone!”
Six earth ponies galloped forward. Three of them had a multi-barreled machine gun hanging off of a swivel arm over their right flank. It was attached to a steel sheath over their torso, with belts of ammunition feeding from saddlebags. Like the pegasi in the air, a control rod led from the tips of the barrels to a trigger-snaffle in their mouths. The three trailing towed wagons with extra saddlebags for ammunition. The gunners slowed down and stopped, spreading their hooves out and leaning forward. The sun glinted off their eye protection as they bit down hard on the triggers, sending out controlled bursts of lead at the Shadowbolts.
Roughly a dozen of the Shadowbolts were cut down, dropping down where they stood. Several of their unicorns lowered their heads and began firing blasts of energy while others formed shields, deflecting the incoming fire. They charged forward, covering their earth pony counterparts as they followed in their wake.
The gunner concentrated their fire on the unicorns, sending lead bouncing off their magical shields. Several shattered, the Shadowbolts behind it cut down. Several more, however, ducked and weaved, using their sheer numbers to their advantage. The earth Shadowbolts reared back, kicking the air before plunging their glowing hooves through the ground.
Large vines suddenly sprouted around the machine gunners, entangling and trapping them. They let out cries of surprise, ceasing their firing to avoid any accidental injuries of their compatriots. The Shadowbolts began their advance once more, some of the unicorns now firing blasts of energy from their horns.
Rough and Ready snorted. She looked to the gunnery crews as the forward observers shouted out range data to the gunnery crews. She telekinetically swung a megaphone up to her muzzle. “Gunnery crews, ready canister shot for those Shadowbolts! I want them brought down. Stonebacks, get in and rescue the machine gunners. I want cover fire for them. Artillery, ready for my command to fire!”
A half-dozen Stonebacks, large, reptilian beings with armored backsides, three-clawed paws and rather sharp teeth, ambled forward. They leaned forward, curling up into armored balls and rolling along the grass to the plants that still held the gunners. Shadowbolts fired blasts of magic at them, but they either missed or bounced harmlessly off the Stonebacks' backsides. They unrolled at the plants and began tearing at them with sharpened claws and teeth.
More and more Shadowbolts poured from the Everfree, galloping across the field. Twenty unicorns advanced, spears held in their telekinetic grip. They spun them around and the crystalline heads glowed, firing off blasts of magic at the Shadowbolts and giving the Stonebacks the time needed to free the machine gunners. Within minutes the vines were shredded and the earth ponies freed.
Rough and Ready waited for them to scramble back to their own lines before barking into her megaphone once more. “Artillery crews, fire at will!”
The cannons roared, cutting down great swaths of Shadowbolts like a scythe through wheat. They dropped dead, the canister shot tearing through their shields, and then the ponies themselves. Almost as quickly as the front ranks were cut down, though, more Shadowbolts emerged from the shadows of the Everfree. Their earth ponies dug their hooves into the ground and more vines sprouted from the ground between them and the artillery, acting as cover for them.
Rough and Ready nickered. She cantered over to a zebra hunched over a radio. “Send word to Fort Mainstay we need reinforcements and – ” Several bolts of magic impacted near the pair, cratering the ground. “ – and resupply.”
The zebra nodded. She held a microphone up to her muzzle and relayed the orders. Rough and Ready, meanwhile, looked over the battlefield as the Shadowbolts began making headway to their positions. She floated a spear off her back and aimed it at the Shadowbolts, firing off several bolts of magic at them.
The Shadowbolts’ fire, though scattershot, began finding their marks. Bolts of magic splattered against the artillery's own armor, causing the crew to duck, delay them in reloading their weapons or occasionally hitting them directly and killing them. Unicorns threw up their own shields against the Shadowbolts, protecting them and their compatriots.
A few minutes passed before several teleportation domes sprang up behind the artillery, fading and leaving behind soldiers and ammunition carts. Even as the carts were wheeled over to the cannons, two giant domes formed on either side of their position. They slowly faded, leaving behind a eight armored vehicles on their left flank and two hundred soldiers of various species on their right.
The Shadowbolts skidded to a halt, some sliding on the grass and ending up on their haunches. They stared at the new arrivals, some tilting their heads in confusion or a close approximation of curiosity before leaping to their hooves once more and resuming their attacks.
The vehicles started moving forward on wrap-around caterpillar tracks that overshadowed the main chassis. They were Mark XXIX tanks, looking as if they were emerging from a newsreel from Earth's first world war. Each one was a massive beast, with two 75-millimeter cannons on each side of the chassis in sponsons and a single .50-caliber machine gun perched atop it. The cannons slowly moved about, tracking the massed groups of Shadowbolts before firing high-explosive shells into their ranks.
The infantry, meanwhile, formed up into groups around the tanks, crystal-tipped spears or flank-mounted firearms firing at the Shadowbolts.
One of the tanks slowed to a halt near Rough and Ready. A green-coated unicorn mare sat at the gunner's position and straightened up, saluting. “Colonel,” she announced, “Sergeant Blossomforth from Fort Bulwark.” She smiled slightly. “Sorry we're not from Mainstay, but we got your call for help and, well, we were ready to go.”
Rough and Ready returned the salute and smile. “No apologies necessary, Sergeant. Thanks.” She looked to the battlefield as the tanks and infantry swept the Shadowbolts back into the Everfree. She swung her megaphone around. “All crews, provide cover fire!” she shouted.
Blossomforth looked ahead to the battle. “If you'll excuse me, Colonel,” she said. “Private Day, full throttle!” The tank lurched forward, whipping Blossomforth back and forth a bit. “Watch the clutch!” she shouted, placing a foreleg over her helmet to keep it flying off.
Canterlot
Cadance followed Fancy Pants as he led her up a winding staircase to the tallest tower of Canterlot Palace. It was an old observation tower, unused for hundreds of years and barely maintained. Cadance had to watch her step on more than one of the stairs, using her magic to brace a rotten board or her wings to float over it. Fancy Pants, though, paid them no mind, trotting up with nary a care in the world.
They walked through a door and out into the afternoon sun. Cadance closed her eyes and let a slight breeze stir her mane. “It feels nice up here,” she said.
Fancy Pants looked out across the horizon at the Ursa Majors towering in the sky and the aerial battle over the Everfree. His monocle danced in the air. “I'm afraid, Princess, the niceness is only up here.”
Cadance's eyes snapped open. She walked over to the edge of the roof, eyes narrowing. “I know, Chancellor,” she said. She spread her wings out and her horn glowed. Pink-colored magic flowed from it, stretching out. Cadance's senses followed suit as she sought out every bit of love, of affection in Canterlot, drawing strength from it and adding it to the shield's.
The pink bubble flowed down from the tower, covering Canterlot in a pink shield from the tops of the towers down to the top of the waterfall cascading down. Various citizens peeked out from their homes or shelters, seeing the shield. Some of them let out sighs of relief, while others cheered. It fed into Cadance, letting her strengthen the shield even more.
Fancy Pants observed her and smiled. “Well, it's good to see Shining Armor left us in good hooves with you.” He looked back over the roof's edge, his eyes searching out and finally focusing on an indistinct blob on the outside of the shield, standing opposite the main entrance on the other side of the moat. “Let us hope Captain Blueblood is equally up to the task.”
Blueblood looked around, eyes taking in as much as they could. He stood outside Cadance's shield with close to a hundred members of the Royal Guard. The rest were either inside Canterlot itself or with Shining Armor. He cantered around to face everyone. “I want all pegasi to break into flights of four and spread out,” he ordered, jabbing a hoof into the sky. “Check in every five minutes on channel one on the wireless. Do not split up, and do not investigate anything without direct orders. I do not want anyone checking out something 'unusual' and then being ambushed by a hundred Shadowbolts. Understood?”
The pegasi there saluted. “Yes, sir!” they barked out. They all then spread their wings and flew up, spreading out around Canterlot. Blueblood glanced up at them before looking down at the remaining Guards. “All right, from what Auntie Luna told me about those ruffians, they're not one for subtlety or sneak attacks. If they come to Canterlot it'll most likely be a full-frontal assault from the direction of Ponyville and the Everfree. Our mission, if they do, is to stop them. Understood?”
The ponies there straightened to attention. “Understood, sir!” they barked out.
Blueblood eyed them. He pointed to Canterlot behind them. “That is my ancestral home. I can trace my lineage all the way back to the original founders, mere weeks before King Invincible I founded the Ancient Kingdom of Ponyland. In all that time, through griffin invasions, Tirac killing Majesty, the dissolution of Ponyland, Discord and Nightmare Moon, the city has never fallen. And upon my horn, it will not fall to Tirac on this day! You are the Royal Guard, reborn and ready to do your duty in defense of this city and of Equestria! Stand proud and tall, ponies!” He cantered around and floated a spear up into the air. “Are you with me?”
Those behind him thrust their own weapons into the air. “YES, SIR!” they all shouted.
Blueblood nodded. “Excellent. Fan out, then. Report in every five minutes over channel two on the wireless.” He glanced at them over his shiny shoulder armor. “Move out!”
Private Tomfoolery trotted up to his side. “Thank you for the rousing speech, sir, and for the opportunity to prove ourselves,” she said.
Blueblood turned his head, glancing at her through the visor on his helmet. His ears pricked at the faintest rumbling of a steam engine. “You're welcome, Private. Let us hope it doesn't come to that. I did just have a hooficure, after all,” he said, winking.
Tomfoolery paused for a moment. “Yes, sir. I... see, sir. I'll go take up my position now.” And with that, she trotted off.
Blueblood rolled his eyes and whinnied, but turned and readied his spear. Just what did I get myself into, again? Oh, Auntie, you'd better remember this come my birthday!
The Friendship Express chugged along at full speed, the steam engine pushed to its limits as it sped to Ponyville. Two-dozen pegasi flew above and alongside it as escorts, all six cars occupied by the Royal Guard as it traveled to Ponyville.
Shining Armor, Flash Sentry and his most trusted of the Royal Guard stood in the dining car, a map of Canterlot Province unfurled across a large banquet table. He shuffled around small icons representing units of the Equestrian Armed Forces, the Royal Guard and Tirac's forces. “All right, we'll be arriving at the train station in about twenty minutes, but it's on the other side of Ponyville from the Everfree Forest.” He looked up at everyone there. “I want the entire town swept through, street by street and house by house if we have to.”
Flash Sentry looked over Ponyville. “This is it, Shining. This is what all the training and hard work over the past two years has been building up to. But are we ready?”
The captain of the Guard floated a daisy sandwich over and bit into it, chewing and swallowing in order to collect his thoughts. “No choice,” he finally said. He looked up at his second in command and chuckled. “Still glad you decided to help me out with this?”
Flash Sentry waved him off with a wing. “No way. Besides, you needed someone to do all the hard work while you waved to crowds during parades and shined your medals.”
Shining Armor glared at him down the length of his horn, but his eyes held no malice. “It's not too late to transfer you to the Air Fleet. Hay, maybe you'd like to go up north to where the Crystal Empire was,” he said, smirking.
“You need me to watch your haunches a bit more than that,” Flash Sentry retorted. His expression turned grim. “So, you think this is it, the final Prophecy of the Moochik? She is the Mag'ne, after all.”
There was a pause. Shining Armor sat on his haunches and let out a slow whinny. “She's mortal, Flash. She's not some semi-divine being like in the old tales. But there's also something about her, too. I can't quite put it into words, though. But if there's anyone who can send Tirac back to Tartarus once and for all that's not an alicorn or an Element of Harmony, it's her.” He looked at his friend. “She will lead old and new against the First, who is now the Last. The sixty-four-thousand bit question is, though, will we win?”
“We will,” Flash Sentry finally said. “I've got faith not just in her, but everyone else in Equestria.” He stomped a hoof on the wooden floor, sending out a resounding thud for emphasis. “We're her friends, and she's our friend. And nothing beats friends when they work together!”