//------------------------------// // Epilogue: It's Changing Everything Again... // Story: Ace Combat: Gryphon Wings // by Bwaak //------------------------------// Epilogue: It’s Changing Everything Again… Ponyville, Equestria July 12th 2020, 0800 hrs It was a bright and sunny morning in Ponyville, a great time for the ponies to begin their daily activities. Up above in the skies, a blue-colored streak passed a few clouds, causing them to break up into several smaller clouds. The blue streak stopped, revealing itself as Rainbow Dash. The blue pegasus mare smirked as she saw a light blue-colored streak wipe out the clusters of cloud she just hit. Kite immediately stopped in midair, panting in exhaustion before he looked up to see Rainbow hovering above.         “Wow, not bad, Kite,” the pegasus praised. “You’re faster than Gilda, though you clearly haven’t worked on maintaining your stamina yet.”         “Sorry, Miss Dash,” Kite answered between pants. “I can only do small bursts of speed. I still can’t maintain it.”         “Just keep trying. Sooner or later, you’re gonna get the hang of it,” Rainbow responded with a grin. She looked around for a moment before she said, “Alright, let’s take a break for 5 minutes.”         “But, we haven’t cleared the rest of the clouds yet…” Kite pointed out.         “Hey, it’s no harm done,” Rainbow said as she plucked together a few puffs of clouds to make a small floating island for both of them. “Besides, we can clear these clouds in no time at all.”         ‘Well, if you say so, Miss Dash,” Kite wondered.         “Just call me, Rainbow, kid. Don’t be too formal about it,” the blue pegasus said before she laid her head on a cloud pillow.         “Sorry, it’s a habit thing,” Kite admitted sheepishly before he sat down beside Rainbow. Both of them watched the clear blue skies in silence. Kite felt a little bit calm. Over a month ago, the sky was filled with countless bolts of light raining down towards the surface. The aftermath of the Second Ulysses Planetfall, as it was dubbed by the ASMC, met the prediction. Although the barrier managed to hold the bigger chunks out, the smaller fragments managed to get by the barrier despite the unicorns’ and the princesses’ effort to repel them. Luckily, most of them landed in unpopulated areas or on the ocean. Still, a minority of them managed to hit several populated areas, but casualties were kept to a minimum. The aftermath of Operation Dragon Slayer was not a good one. Numerous Hoofstian pegasi and several of Kite’s friends perished over the Antlertic. The small griffon sighed; he was going to miss Razorback’s techno babble and along with Max and Goose’s bickering.         “What’s the matter, kid?” Rainbow asked in curiosity. “Something on your mind?”         “Yeah, just thinking about my deceased friends…” Kite admitted.         “I feel you, kid… I lost several of my friends too during the Equestrian War,” Rainbow said in a grim tone. “I’m sure they’re happy that we finally won the war and brought back peace to Equestria.”         “Yeah, my friends would probably be happy too if they learned that overgrown lizard was brought down by… um…” Kite immediately came to a halt as he was about to mention Black Star’s name. He could not bring himself to say his name after his sacrifice at the end of that mission. When Valdar finally learned of the dark griffon’s death, Black Star was immediately declared Missing In Action, though he was listed as Killed In Action within the reports. Valdar even stated that Black Star’s parents were already notified, and the dark griffon himself will be given the “Knight of Valhöll,” a medal of honor rewarded for performing a selfless act of valor above his duty as a soldier of the Griffin Kingdom. Needless to say, Black Star’s parents were utterly devastated to hear the news. His father even regretted his decision for disowning his son after hearing his role in the Equestrian War. For Kite, he still believed that good old Captain Blake was still alive. He was simply too badass to die like that, even if he hit the water’s surface at high speed…  combined with a broken wing and numerous other injuries inflicted by Esser…         “Yeah, no need to recall that event, Kite,” the blue pegasus assured the small griffon. “Whoever that griffon was… he’s the real hero.” Kite just gave the rainbow-maned pegasus a tiny glance. Rainbow Dash quickly chuckled and corrected,         “But that doesn’t mean you guys aren’t awesome by your own right. Seriously, you guys are basically the central pillar of morale for the griffon army now!”         “Just like you and the angels, princess,” Kite added, causing Rainbow to blush when she heard her moniker being said. “Now I knew the reason why Sir Wonderfalke was such a fan of you girls.” How could Rainbow forget about that? While the griffon survivors spent their month recovering in Stalliongrad, Riddle had requested that he wanted to see the Angels of Equestria before they went back home. Princess Celestia actually granted his wish and let him and a few other griffons to spend their last week in Ponyville. Riddle almost lost his composure when he faced the seven members that made up Mirage squadron. Kite even thought that the old griffon nearly suffered a heart attack when he saw the mares. Being the leader, Rainbow shook the blue griffon’s talon first, stating that it was an honor for her and her squadron to meet their “counterpart” from the north. Kestrel immediately befriended the pink flyer, Firefly due to their experience with Black Star, and Kite quickly adjusted himself with Medley and Cloud Kicker, with the latter challenging him for a friendly game of “Hoofball.” When she met Kestrel, Firefly felt some similarities between the griffoness and herself. They both had some sort of complicated relationship with Black Star and neither one of them were willing to tell the other about it. When Firefly asked Kestrel about Black Star’s whereabouts, the griffoness only gave this vague answer,         “He’s gone… far from here…” Firefly was disappointed with the answer. She asked Kestrel again about any efforts to find him, but Kestrel just dismissed that Valdar did not have any intentions on looking for him. Firefly stated that she wanted to speak to him, one last time for personal reasons. Kestrel could only smile in sadness; she could never tell her the truth. It would devastate the mare and the entire Mirage squad. After all, who would have thought that the treacherous Black Star who was deemed responsible for helping to create the Equestrian War would be the one who saved thousands of lives in Stalliongrad by giving up his own life. To an extent, the griffons chose to keep the secrets of the Neue Gryphus Rebellion behind their wings. Red Cyclone was still marked as the mastermind of the Equestrian War to the citizens, but the princesses already knew who was to blame for the two wars. Unlike Black Star, Esser’s charred body was able to be recovered by the Equestrian SAR team. All of them nearly gagged in disgust, and some of them were scared shitless when they saw the griffon’s face. Esser’s strange wide grin was still present even when there was literally no skin left on his face. The eyeballs were also missing along with all the feathers. Even Princess Luna was creeped out by it when the body was transferred to Canterlot for further examinations. The only thing missing was the Zaubenschaft gem, which was destroyed in battle. The SAR team searched day and night, but they could not find any of the fragments at all. The mystery behind Esser’s resurrection died along with him, but the griffons were not too sure about his death. He will return someday. It was only a matter of time. Kite suddenly felt his legs being pulled, causing him to get up and find Kestrel and Firefly hovering in front of him and Rainbow. The small griffon stood up and greeted,         “Ah, captain. What are you doing here?”         “Just checking on my subordinate,” Kestrel responded with a warm smile. “Aren’t you two suppose to be clearing the skies?”         “Yeah, sis,” Firefly said while crossing her hooves. “Some of the ponies below are complaining about the clouds.” Rainbow slapped his forehead while Kite took to the skies.         “Dear Celestia, I forgot!” Rainbow exclaimed as she took to the skies. “Thanks for the heads up, sis! See ya later!” Kestrel and Firefly watched as the two resumed their work. Both of the chuckled before Firefly spoke,         “I swear, your subordinate reminded me of Dashie… minus the cocky attitude,”         “Milvus has a lot to learn, but I think the war helped him harden up for a bit,” Kestrel sighed. “After all, several of his friends died in that war…” Kestrel went silent for a moment, clearly reminiscing the deaths of her subordinates. She had written all of the condolence letters and sent them to the deceased’s parents. Losses in the war were inevitable, but she still could not cope the loss of her beloved.         “I’m sorry to hear that,” Firefly said as she tried to change the topic. “On the other hoof, congratulations on the promotion. It must be an honor for you to be the leader of the Northern Eagles.”         “Thank you, Firefly,” Kestrel smiled. She still could not believe it herself. Yesterday, Riddle told her and Kite that the injuries he sustained along with the non-stop usage of the Z.O.E. Mk.II had strained his old body to the very limit. For the blue griffon, that was an absolute call for him to retire from all the action. Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville, Equestria July 11th 2020, 1820 hrs         “Sir, are you really going to retire?” Kestrel asked. “But what about Aquila? Who will lead the squad?”         “You will, Captain Turmfalken,” Riddle said. “I was about to give the command to Blake, but well… you know…” Kestrel’s head slowly dropped down in sadness. She knew what Riddle meant. She knew that Riddle’s decision to retire would come very soon, especially when the blue griffon had not walked around that much since the battle over the Antlertic. Riddle preferred to stay within the Golden Oaks Library, which was owned by the unicorn, Twilight Sparkle: a talented young mare and a student of Princess Celestia herself. But she was not expecting him to appoint her as the new leader. She ignored the curious glances from Twilight and her assistant Spike as she tried to process Riddle’s sudden statement. Her feelings were mixed. At first, she felt joy, but another feeling clouded her mind. Was she really worthy to take the mantle as the leader of Aquila squadron?         “I know it sounded ridiculous for me to say that, but I have no other candidates, captain,” Riddle continued. “Next to Blake, you were the only griffon worthy enough to take lead slot from me.”         “I agree with Sir Wonderfalke, ma’am,” Kite jumped in. “If there’s a griffon I need to place my trust in, it would be you, ma’am. Besides, you already did a good job as our instructor for the past two years, ma’am.” Kite and Riddle’s words gave her a little bit of confidence, but she was still unsure about leading Aquila Squadron. She could lead an ordinary squadron composed of ten fliers, but leading Aquila was another story. Aquila was now regarded as a central pillar of morale for the Griffin Kingdom Forces, and the Equestrians even acknowledged them as the griffon counterpart of the Angels of Equestria. She later stated to Riddle that she would need some time to make her decision. The blue griffon just shrugged in approval.         “You don’t have to give me a direct answer, Captain Turmfalken. The only thing that matters is your readiness to be a squadron leader.” Kestrel ultimately gave her answer, stating that she will do the best as she can to maintain the squad. Although she accepted the position, she stated that she will lead Aquila squadron under the call sign “Aquila 2”. She felt that Black Star was more worthy to lead the squadron, and by choosing her desired call sign, it would technically leave the real leader spot for Black Star. If he was still alive. Both fliers then descended to the town square, where more and more ponies started to set up their daily activities. Soon enough, they saw Applejack trotting and chatting with Rod, while Archer along with Breaker, Ricochet and Rosepink were stuck with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Rod soon noticed Kestrel and Firefly’s presence before he greeted them.         “Good morning, Captain Turmfalken! Firefly!”         “Good morning, Rod,” Kestrel smiled as she and Firefly greeted him back.         “What are you doing with Applejack?” Firefly asked in curiosity.         “Oh, I was just discussing about what the cold weather’s effects are on an apple tree,” Rod sighed. “You see, I’m trying to grow one in Gryphus, but it kept dying due to freezing weather conditions,”         “And that’s why I’m givin’ Rod some tips on growin’ them apples on the mountains,” Applejack said. “I admit, I never knew that there’s a griffon trying to grow some apples in their home!” Nearly all of them chuckled in amusement after hearing that while Rod just blushed in embarrassment. It was true that he really did try to grow an apple tree in his home. After all, gardening was his favorite pastime when he was off duty. Though Rod was in a good mood, Archer was not. Sweetie Belle kept her eyes locked on the griffoness’ tail and occasionally tried to hold it with her magic. Kestrel noticed this and decided to tease Archer.         “How about you, Anna? Having fun babysitting?” the pastel griffoness asked with a smirk.         “Oh shut up, Marie…” Archer growled. Sweetie Belle giggled excitedly as she successfully grabbed Archer’s tail with her magic. Unfortunately, her happiness was short lived, as her magic began to shimmer down before fading out.         “Keep practicing, Sweetie Belle! You’re doing great!” Scootaloo chirped from Breaker’s head. The tan griffon smacked himself on his face, clearly not too fond of having a small filly pegasus climbing up to his head. Rosepink tried her best not to laugh at the scene while Ricochet was busy chatting with Pipsqueak and Dinky, though the young griffon was having some difficulties answering the two’s questions.         “Is it true that you guys were fighting a robot dragon?” Dinky asked excitedly.         “Technically it’s a cyborg, but yeah, you could say that…”         “Was it scary? Did it breathe fire like all dragons do, or did it breathe something else?” Dinky asked again.         “Like ice, maybe?” Pipsqueak added with a smile.         “Well… it definitely breathed fuego…err… I mean fire, but it also could spew laser beams as well,” Ricochet explained. Dinky couldn’t contain her excitement as she yelled, “That’s so cool!!”         “Tell us more! Tell us more!” Pipsqueak asked with a grin, causing Ricochet to take a worried glance at Rosepink, who was on the verge of laughing.         “Please help me, Camilla!”         “Nope, you said that you could handle them on your own,” Rosepink said as she stuck her tongue out. Ricochet was not amused.         “Please! You know kids better than me! I’m tired explaining all of this to them!” Rosepink just laughed before she sighed and walked up to the two foals.         “Alright, I think Rico’s too tired to tell stories anymore,” she said to the two, causing Dinky and Pipsqueak to groan in disappointment. “On the other hoof, who wants to visit the Sugarcube Corner for some ice cream!?” Immediately all the foals yelled in excitement. Scootaloo quickly hopped off Breaker’s head while Sweetie Belle finally gave Archer’s tail some break. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom looked at her sister and asked,         “Can I, Applejack?”         “Sure, sugarcube,” the orange mare smiled. “But don’t have too many!”         “Yaay!” Apple Bloom squealed before she joined the other CMCs with Rosepink as they headed for the Sugarcube Corner. Archer, Ricochet and Breaker quickly gave out a sigh of relief. Kestrel had to admit, she never saw Rosepink acting so cheery in the military academy. She figured that maybe Rosepink had a hidden streak that came pretty useful with kids. The group then decided to spend the rest of the morning in the Ponyville café. Although the waiter was a bit nervous around the half eagle-lion creatures, the patrons were not nervous at all. One or two of them even greeted the griffons in a friendly manner. It was nearing 11 AM when Twilight Sparkle and her assistant, Spike came to the café.         “Wow, these ponies are actually being nice to us,” Rod said. “Way different than the situation before the war,”         “Well, you guys did help us improve our tech for a little bit, and the peace between our countries has mellowed some of the ponies’ hearts,” Twilight smiled. “I heard that Valdar has proposed to Princess Celestia to build some kind of defense apparatus in Canterlot similar to the Burning Talon,”         “Well that’s what I heard too,” Rod said before he took a sip from his drink. “Forgot about the details though,”         “It’s called Project Atmos, Rod,” Archer added with a chuckle. “Seriously, Valdar’s our friend. How could you forget his words?”         “Project Atmos?” Twilight and Firefly spoke in unison. Archer took a small sip from her drink before she explained. Before she could though, Rainbow Dash appeared above and called Firefly to join her and Kite to clean up a heavy formation of clouds near the Everfree Forest.         “Horseapples,” Firefly whined as she took off from the ground. “I’m sorry, everyone. I’ll join you guys later!” Once Firefly was out of sight, Twilight asked Archer about Atmos, urging her to continue.         “Alright. Anyway, it’s basically a turret system that fires lasers.” Archer then noticed that Twilight had levitated a small piece of parchment. The griffoness then continued. “Atmos is composed of eight turrets that can fire lasers independently for a short amount of time. Our country even helped built the prototype in the far southern country of Aurelia…”         “What about the one installed in Canterlot?” Twilight asked after she wrote down the important facts. Archer then continued.         “Valdar said that Grunder Industries was supposed to built the Atmos Ring, but with Grunder disbanded… A new company that goes by the name General Resources Limited will be the one who build it.” Twilight remembered that company’s name after its reveal just two weeks after the Neue Gryphus Rebellion. Apparently, the company was created by the Co-CEO of Gryphon Technologies after the previous CEO was found guilty of selling weapons to the rebels. General Resources or GR was dead set on continuing the technological advancement of Equis. Another company in the far east had also revealed itself to the world. The company was named Neucom Incorporated, supposedly a complete overhaul of the Urusean Aeronautics Administration shortly after its founding. Twilight guessed that these two companies will become rivals in the future… She heard that General Resources had also announced their contributions to improve the Zone of Endless. From now on, the Zone of Endless will be called “Electrosphere”: a much more fitting name for the virtual world. Twilight mused, so much had changed within a month. Though she was intrigued and curious about this, a part of her was afraid of how much Equis would change in years to come. Her thoughts quickly came to a halt as Fluttershy greeted her and the group. Behind her were Medley, Ronin, and Butterclaw.         “Oh hi, Fluttershy,” Twilight smiled. “What brings you here?”         “Oh, Stan and Gilda said that I need some rest from taking care of my friends,” the timid pegasus said. Twilight was confused.         “But I thought you were scared of Gilda?”         “She apologized for her actions, Twilight,” Fluttershy smiled. “I’m surprised myself. She’s definitely changed since our last encounter.”         “I’m even more surprised that she’s willing to take care of the animals along with that Stan fellow,” Medley hopped in. “I’m still not sure about leaving the animals to those two.”         “You can trust Stan, Medley,” Ronin spoke. “I raised him, and I know that he would never hurt your animals.”         “Are you sure, Miss Mizukami?” Medley questioned. Ronin just chuckled in response.         “He’s my son, I know him better than any of you,” Meanwhile Stalker kept his eyes locked at the smug-faced white rabbit standing in front of him. Gilda on the other hand was busy feeding the birds with a flat look on her face. The animals were not really a problem for her and Stalker, but that little white bunny on the hand was like a demon rather like an angel. The griffoness frowned as she noticed Stalker’s little stand-off with the so-called “Angel.”         “Stan, don’t just sit there like an idiot! Help me with this!” Stalker ignored Gilda as his frown deepened. Slowly, the griffon growled,         “Alright, you little bastard. You win this round, now tell me how exactly did you manage this place during Fluttershy’s absence?” A smile formed on Angel’s face. The group continued their chatter in the café until the familiar form of Pinkie Pie surprised them. The pink pony had a huge grin on her face.         “Hi, everypony and every-griffon!” she said cheerfully. “Whatcha been doing?”         “Hi, Pinkie Pie. We’re all just getting along,” Twilight smiled. “What are you doing here?”         “I just want to inform our feathered friends that I’m planning a huge “Farewell Party” at the Sugarcube Corner,” the pink earth pony explained. “I mean it’s their last day here, and the other griffons from Stalliongrad would probably come any minute to pick you guys up,”         “Hm, she’s got a point,” Archer mused. “But a party? For us?”         “Of course, silly!” Pinkie laughed as she appeared between Archer and Kestrel who were sitting near the table, surprising both of them.         “Holy shit…” Archer thought as she clutched her chest.         “Where did she come from!?” Kestrel thought in confusion.  “Just take it as a farewell party AND a “Thank You Party” from the guys at Stalliongrad!” Pinkie explained with a grin. “Everypony’s welcome, and Rosepink with the CMCs are already there! Itkindaruinedthesurpriseabitbut I don’t care, it’s still a party!”         “She’s right y’know!” a familiar voice called out from above. It was Jet with Lanner hovering behind him. The griffons smiled when they saw their friend, but they also felt sad. Jet’s arrival meant that they would have to return to Gryphus soon. Jet’s squad, or what was left of it, was tasked to escort Valdar along with delegates from General Resources to discuss Project Atmos with the royal princesses. The meeting would end at noon, and Valdar requested for all the griffons to return with him, stating that they needed to reorganize and rebuild their scarred homeland. Without wasting any time, the group paid for their food before leaving the café as they headed for the Sugarcube Corner. As expected, quite a number of ponies were already gathered within the bakery. The Wonderbolts, the rest of Mirage squadron, Riddle, Kite and even some of the ponies from Stalliongrad were present. The latters even thanked the griffons, especially the core members of Aquila squadron for their actions during Operation Dragon Slayer, though Kestrel stated that while they were flattered by the ponies’ words, it was really Black Star who deserved all the praise. A moment of silence was held before the party as the griffons honored their late comrade. The mourning was soon replaced by loud music and cheers of joy as the party began. The party ended just before noon. Valdar even attended the after-party, which lasted a full hour after the main party was finished. Once it was over, the griffons exited the bakery and regrouped on town square, where Stalker, Gilda and the rest of Crimson and Silver squadron were waiting for them. Riddle, who was carrying several books in his saddlebag, walked alongside Twilight Sparkle as they headed for town square.         “I thank you for these books, Ms. Sparkle,” the blue griffon said. “We griffons may have the technological advantage, but even we need to learn some spells and magic to upgrade our machines,”         “Don’t mention it, Sir Wonderfalke,” Twilight smiled. “I also wanted to say thank you for sharing some information regarding the projects you’ve been working on for the last few years.”         “Just be careful about some of the projects, Ms. Twilight,” Riddle warned. “Not all of them are built for peaceful purposes…”         “I’ll keep that in mind, sir,” Twilight chuckled. Both of them continued on with their chat as they passed Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Ricochet and Rosepink. The white unicorn filly looked upset.         “Aww, do you really have to go?” Sweetie Belle whined. “You haven’t told us anything about your war,”         “Sweetie Belle, darling,” her sister Rarity began. “I’m sure it must have hurt recalling all those awful experience. Some of their friends might had fallen in battle, and you do know how upsetting it was to lose someone close to you?”         “Your sister’s right, kid,” Ricochet began. “We lost a lot of friends during that war, not counting thousands who perished.” The small unicorn filly immediately felt guilty when she heard that.         “I’m sorry,” she squeaked.         “Nah, it’s alright,” Ricochet shrugged. “You didn’t know.”         “Just keep your spirits up! Think positive, kid,” Rosepink added with a smile. Sweetie Belle just nodded and grinned as the griffoness patted her head. Dinky, who was standing in front of her mother Derpy and step-brother Pipsqueak, spoke next,         “Are we gonna see each other again? You guys are pretty nice when compared to the meanies that tried to kidnap me,”         “This isn’t goodbye, little buddy,” Breaker said as he pat the filly unicorn’s mane. “If we had time, we’ll be back to play some more games with you.”         “Finding a soft spot for the ponies, eh, Brad?” Stalker snickered, causing Ronin to slap him on the back of his head. Everyone chuckled at the scene. “Ow! Mom, that hurts!”         “Be nice to your friends, Stan,” Ronin said sternly, much to the others’ amusement.         “Yes, mother…” Stalker said in embarrassment, bowing down before the griffoness.         “Yeah, listen to your mom, Stan!” Breaker called back with Dinky giggling below. Unfortunately, Ronin snapped her attention to him as well.         “And you must act your age, young cub,” she barked.         “Y-yes, ma’am!” Breaker nodded quickly. The others were clearly enjoying this.         “Alright, that’s enough laughs for now,” Valdar said after he calmed himself down. “Time to go, people.” The orange griffon then turned his attention towards Mayor Mare and said,         “We thank you and Ponyville’s citizens for their hospitality; we shall never forget this,”         “You’re welcome, your majesty,” Mayor Mare smiled before she bowed before the griffon king. Before long, the half lion-eagle creatures spread their wings and took flight. The ponies said their goodbyes and farewells, to which the griffons answered back with their own. The voices soon faded away as the griffons climbed to a higher altitude. Kestrel in particular could not help but to stare to her right: the general direction of the Antlertic Ocean. The griffoness then brought her talons to her chest as she thought,         “Blake, I wish you’re here… just to see how much things have changed since the war that tore our nation apart… If you’d been in Ponyville with us, I’m sure that the ponies would welcome you as a hero and not a monster you thought you’d become…” Slowly, a dim smile formed on Kestrel’s beak as a single tear flowed from her eye.         “You really changed everything, Blake… you changed our country, you changed Equestria, and most of all… you changed me...” The group soon changed their course to the north. Kestrel took one last glance before she finished her thought, “My heart will always be with you…” 2 Miles near New Saddle, Equestria July 12th 2020, 1655 hrs Darkness. All he could see was pure darkness. He felt cold, colder than the coldest winter in Gryphus. Then, he felt something warm… coming from his beak. The warm spot quickly turned hot. Hot enough to burn his mouth. Black Star coughed before he spat a mouthful of hot soup. The dark griffon tried to sit upright, but a surge of pain coming from his hip prevented him. Once the taste of the hot soup was gone from his mouth, Black Star took his time to adjust his eyes to the area around him. Soon, a terrified form of a mare holding a can of the soup took shape in front of him. The mare had a bright yellow coat and a cross cutie-mark.         “A nurse?” Black Star thought before he looked around him. Coconut trees everywhere and a small roof made out of leaves placed above him with several large branches holding the roof up.         “A hut… in a coconut forest? Where the fuck am I?” Black Star thought before the nurse pony slowly regained her senses and spoke,         “He’s awake…” she stammered. “Dear Celestia, he’s awake!” The nurse then bolted out and yelled, “he’s awake! He’s awake!” like a nutjob. Black Star just stared at the sight in pure confusion before he decided to lie back down. The sting from his hip still hurt, and the same thing could be said for his right wing. At first, Black Star was still confused about all this. Why was he in a forest? What happened that resulted in him being in such a state? Slowly, bits and pieces of his memories came back as the dark griffon began to remember. The sortie, the battle, the dragon and… and… The crash... the city... Black Star brought both of his talons up at eye level, making sure that he was not hallucinating. He even pinched himself to be absolutely sure that he was not dead.         “I’m alive…” he thought with a frown before he gave out a sigh of relief. Looks like life was giving him a second chance. He’s alive. Battered, but alive. Before he could think his next course of action, someone else entered the hut. The figure wore a black fabric that covered his body, with only the hood exposing the snout. The dark gray snout of a stallion.         “Glad to see you up and about,” the figure started with a hoarse voice. “I thought you’ll never came through,” There was a brief silence before Black Star asked the hooded pony,         “How long have I been out?”         “A month… maybe more,” the pony answered, earning a mortified look from the griffon. He’s been out for more than one month? That was enough time for Valdar to list his name under the section of soldiers who were killed in action.         “Damn… over a month?” Black Star repeated in disbelief. “Are you serious?”         “I’m very serious, Ghost,” the pony chuckled before he took something out from underneath his fabric. It was a large roasted fish on a stick. “Here you go, it’s on the house.” The figure said as he handed the fish to the dark griffon. Black Star was suspicious at first, but a loud rumble coming from his stomach forced him to throw the doubts away. Black Star immediately chomped down on the fish, finishing it up with several quick bites. Fortunately, the figure had already taken out several more roasted fish and laid them out on a large leaf. “Help yourself out, Ghost. You need your strength back,” the figure said as he sat down. “Thank you, stranger…” Black Star said politely before he paused and asked, “Oh, pardon me. You know my moniker, and yet I didn’t know yours. What is your name, stranger?” “My name is not important, Ghost,” the stallion waved his hoof. “I’m just a spectre from the past who still lingers in this world… looking for a purpose. A dog without a master. A lone wolf who walk on paths where angels would not dare to step…” The stallion’s words left Black Star deep in thought. The dark griffon finally found his answer when he noticed that the fabric covering the pony’s left flank was slightly removed: revealing a wing with dark blue feathers, along with numerous scars visible from the pegasus’ gray coat and a pentagram cutie-mark… For Black Star, there was no greater honor if he were to meet one of the most well-known aces in the history of Equis. Now, one of them is sitting in front of him. It’s going to be a long night for him and the pegasus... [UNKNOWN TRANSMISSION RECEIVED: CODENAME UI4054AURORA] Unknown Location July 12th 2020, 2230 hrs A purple-coated pegasus growled in annoyance after the monitor in front of him turned blue then into static just moments ago. Beside him stood a black-coated pegasus pony, and he seemed intrigued by his companion’s sudden irritation.         “What happened, Shockwave?”         “The data extraction is unsuccessful… again!” the pegasus, Shockwave, said before he slammed both of his hooves near the keyboard, forming a large crack on the table.         “Knock it off, Shockwave, I’m trying to sleep here!” another voice sounded from the darkness. Shockwave just sighed as he rubbed his face, trying to calm down. The dark pegasus waited for a few seconds until he asked again,         “What do you mean, unsuccessful?”         “Oh come on, do you really need to ask that, Deathwing?” Shockwave said as he threw his friend an annoyed look. “I’m sure you already know why I need the data in the first place.”         “But I don’t get why you were unable to extract the data from that thing in the first place,” Deathwing replied as he pointed at the shattered purple Zaubenschaft gem placed within a box which was connected to the computer. The gem was pulsating in a slow beat, almost as if it was mimicking a heartbeat.         “There’s always something wrong with that griffon, and you know it, Deathwing,” Shockwave said as he shut down the computer. “Heck, even our Lady Aurora was disturbed when we managed to resurrect him!”         “Oh don’t remind me of that!” another voice spoke up from behind them. It was a young pegasus pony with a yellow coat and red mane. “Lady Aurora should have killed that lunatic the moment we brought him back from the dead!”         “Trickster, are you implying that our lady has made a mistake?” Deathwing growled. The small pegasus just ignored his glare as Deathwing continued. “I’m sure that whatever reason Lady Aurora brought back that maniac is for a good reason,”         “Yeah, and he did deliver too,” Shockwave jumped in. “Thanks to him, the Griffin Kingdom is down on its knees, and Equestria is left with no powerful allies,”         “It’s a perfect time to strike them down!” Trickster said excitedly, jumping up and down. “C’mon, let’s go there right now!”         “Oh here we go…” the voice that belonged to the resting pegasus in the darkness sighed, causing the small yellow pony to growl.         “Oh shut up, Havoc!”         “Patience, Trickster…” Deathwing reminded him. “We shall make our move once our lady ordered us to do it. For now, just bear with it for a little longer… we’re all eager to return home,” Trickster just pouted in response as Havoc went quiet again. Deathwing then turned his attention back at Shockwave.         “Anyway, that doesn’t explain why you were unable to extract the data from his Zaubenschaft,” he pointed out. Shockwave just growled in irritation. “Technically speaking, you are the best mind in our ranks since Grimmsworth’s passing. So why, Shockwave?”         “Truthfully, I don’t know, Deathwing,” Shockwave admitted. “Every time I tried to extract the data from that prototype Zeal, something like a virus of some kind inside the gem blocks my every command. I tried hacking and breaching the gem’s storage, but the virus keeps rewriting itself to stop me. That last try was the final straw for it. The virus blocked me and attacked the computer, causing it to crash.”         “Hmph, big deal, smarty pants,” Trickster squawked. Shockwave just glared at the yellow pegasus before he spoke to Deathwing,   “Remind me to clean the computer’s drive later, I don’t want any of my data to be erased by some virus.” Shockwave then trotted towards the door.         “And where are you going?” Deathwing asked, causing Shockwave to stop in his tracks. The pegasus just chuckled and answered,         “Telling Lady Aurora about all this. Care to accompany me?” Deathwing complied without a word. Trickster on the other hand had to wake Havoc up and tell him that they will meet Aurora and tell her about the virus. Havoc growled; he didn’t like to be disturbed like this, but if it was for Lady Aurora, he will do anything. Once the four stallions were out from the chamber, the box which held the pulsating Zaubenschaft gems started to give out some electricity. A distant laugh was heard from the speakers as the electricity travelled up the cable and into the computer.         “… heh… heh… heh…” The monitor soon turned on by itself, but the screen showed nothing but than static as the laughter continued. “Heheh… hahaha… HAHAHAHA!” The static-filled screen then began to morph into a black and white version of Esser’s face. His eyes were pitch black with red spheres replacing the pupils. His laughter echoed through the room before he growled in a distorted, static-filled voice,         “It’s not over yet…” ======= When the heavens fell, a new era began. Peace must be earned through sacrifices… Even with the fires of hate still scorching the skies. The biggest change still looms on the horizon... END