//------------------------------// // Chapter #2 - Fire in The Sky {1/3 COMPLETE} // Story: Return of The Inferno // by Blue Blaze {COMET} //------------------------------// AUTHOR'S NOTE: PLEASE READ! I highly suggest that you check out my latest blog post either before or after you read this chapter. It explains how I will be updating future chapters from now on, and possible future projects. Anyways, Enjoy chapter 2 of "Return of The Inferno" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was running. The sound of my hoofsteps rang throughout the streets of Ponyville. I really wasn’t heading towards a specific place, but I was trying to locate a certain object that would be the center of my mission. While speeding along the cobblestone roads, it didn’t occur to me that my enemies may be located upwards. It took another miniature earthquake for my head to swing upwards and see the massive mothership above me. Looming above Ponyville was a typical spaceship that you would see from any kind of sci-fi movie. Of course, that meant that it far surpass any technology that ponies have so far. It was completely made of metal, with several nooks, lights and cannons hanging out the bottom of the hull. It’s would take forever for me to explain the exact shape that the ship took, so I can basically summarize it by saying that it looked like a mixture of the U.S.S. Enterprise, the Millennium falcon, and any other kind of humongous spacecraft that you can think of. The only thing that can be certain about it is that it has arrowhead-like shape to it. Anyways, the size of the spacecraft was so gigantic that it blocked the sun’s rays. I quickly shot a glance down the streets around me. All the houses, streetlamps, carts, shop stalls and ponies were underneath a veil of shade. Speaking of other ponies, the ponies on the streets had dropped what they were doing and stood still to look up at the massive metal vehicle in the sky. Some ponies had their jaws wide open, some ponies had their pupils shrunk to the size of a walnut, and some ponies immediately ran towards the nearest shelter in fear. “Alien Invasion!” screamed a certain green pony with an apple pie cutie mark. All the ponies in the area suddenly started to panic. They ran in a confused frenzy, trying to decide whether to wither look for cover or search for their loved ones. In a matter of seconds, the streets around me became a cluster of chaos. Ponies were running into each other, carts of hay and other goods were being knocked down, some of the nearby building got lit on fire somehow. But to top it all off, the invasion didn’t even start yet and already the ponies in Ponyville were wetting their pants in anxiety and fright. “Stupid Granny Smith…” I muttered to myself. “Why did you have to go and create a riot just by saying two words? And by Celestia’s horn, Discord would be having the time of his life if he was here right now…” I turned my attention to the Runite Battleship. Squinting and mentally zooming in, I could barely make out tens of hundreds of smaller ships dropping down from the docking bay. Based on the shape and general design of the ships, I’m guessing that they’re deploying transportation ships, probably to transport infantry from the mothership onto Ponyville. Obviously, they were planning to capture this place by sheer violence and force. I was pissed, even though I predicted that this would happen. Not only is this in violation of inter-dimensional code ATA-416, but if the princess saw this, she would probably consider this an act of war. The infantry ships were slowly descending onto Ponyville. Instead of organizing some kind of defense, the citizens of Ponyville were running around like a bunch of nincompoops, scared and distraught. Obviously, no word of this event has reached Canterlot, or else Celestia’s royal army would probably have been here already. I didn’t even get to start part A of my plan it was already falling apart. Man, I was sure mad. But what could I do about it? Nothing, that’s what. All I could do is just grit my teeth, and move on to the next part of my plan. So, that’s what I did; got ready to get my hooves dirty. Swinging my wings out as far as they could, I flapped my wings downwards as hard as I could, easily lifting me up and giving me a 10 meter distance from the ground. I continued to soar upwards until I felt satisfied with my height. Then, I did a quick but sweet dive bomb to get some momentum and instantly pulled upwards, giving me a steady momentum to handle. By using this method with a little bit of Pegasus physics and unicorn magic, I not only can uphold an appropriate flying speed without flapping my wings, but I can increase my velocity tenfold in a blink of an eye. However, I still need my wings to steer me in the right direction. I tilt the edges of my wings so that I’m pointing towards the enemy ships. Reviewing part one of the plan, I will my magic to zoom me off towards the advancing enemy. Additionally, I start to conjure a flame spell mixed with a shield spell. This will protect me from any laser fire or falling ship parts that try to hit me. Further stocking up my spells, I place a solidifying and sharpening spell on my wings, thus, making my wings as sharp as a diamond blade. These two spells allow my wings to cut any substance that I want; wood, clouds, cake, and even that strong metal armor that the transport ships have attached to their hulls. Increasing speed, I target and head towards one of the transport ships. My speed is so great that the gap between me and it shorten within a matter of seconds. Not to brag or anything, but if my calculations are correct, I’m pushing Mach 6 right now. Soon, I can see the great detail in the armor of the outer hull of the ship. I further widen out my wings in preparation for contact. As I hit with the thick steel that is the center of the ship, I only had one thought on my mind: “This ship doesn’t have one damn of a chance.” I zoom right through the armor, causing it to explode in a fiery display of red, yellow and orange lights. Because of the spells that I placed in preparation, there was not a scratch or bump on my shiny yellow coat. Even though there were bits and pieces of the decimated ship flying everywhere and pelting me, I couldn’t a thing because of my shield spell deflecting every single scrap of metal. Even my cloak and hat were protected from any debris that may try to hit me. I could tell that I was already making quite a show for the onlookers below. One down, approximately nine hundred and twenty-six to go…But that’s not a problem. By my calculations, if I destroy at least 3 ships a second, then I’ll be finished this part of my plan in less than 30 minutes! It will probably be a record time of the Equestrian books! Although, they may not record the amount of alien ships destroyed within an allowed time, but they should make some kind of record anyways! Well, I better get started… I head toward my next target. The following moments of my life were spent slicing, stabbing, exploding, and totally annihilating the infantry ships. I rocketed through ship after ship, leaving a wake of brunt metal and destruction behind me. I bet that my mane and coat look perfect for a colourful pyrotechnics show like this one. Even though I had to keep my eyes on my targets, I could imagine my yellow and red tail, swaying with the speed behind me while my mane danced in the gusts of my flying. Combine that with multiple explosions on a dark green background, then… Well, you get the idea. Even though my speed was increasing with every kill I got (Combo X 291), there were still a sizeable amount of transport ships in the sky, but at the same time, that was working out for my favor. There were so many ships in the sky that not only was it impossible to miss, but I could get ‘multikills’ off of ships that were lined up in perfect synchronization. Barrel rolling, loop-de-looping and U-turning, I managed to increase the runite’s KIA number by the hundreds in a matter of minutes. But to top it all off, I found it a lot of excitement and joy doing so. Sure, destroying these jerks has always been a fun pastime, but just the pure speed that I have achieved combined with the wind whistling in my ears had created an experience for me that I haven’t felt for what feels like forever. A smile of joy and excitement grew on my face as I continued to foil my enemy’s plans. While preforming a double-backside barrel roll with an inverted vertical loop, I take a moment glance over at the ponies below. Some of them were gawking at my feats of acrobatics, speechless to make any comments about the alien invasion or the mysterious Pegasus currently pwning them. Others were still running in in panic from the entire situation, but yet still confused and befuddled at what to do next. While some of the younger ones were cheering me on like I was the star of the Hoofball team or their next favorite sport. I started to get that fuzzy feeling, knowing that I was fighting for these kind, caring and peaceful ponies and also knowing that they were cheering me on to fight for the fate of their planet. I returned my focus back to the battlefront. For somewhat reason, there were several Pegasi (presumably from Cloudsdale) trying to join the fight and were doing everything they could to the transport ships. They flew around, rammed into and tried to electrify the ships using clouds. Of course, Runite ships are built to withstand attacks much, much stronger than that, however, that doesn’t mean that the Pegasi’s efforts were meaningless. They were still managing to annoy the ship pilots to some extent. It was a good distraction for me to execute some kind of plan that I haven‘t thought out yet, but it was also utterly stupid, flying into a warzone like this one with no organization, teamwork or plan. I needed to get them out of the area so I could continue to destroy these ships without having to worry about others getting in my way. Although the Pegasi weren’t in any real danger, because it seemed like the transport ships had no weaponry installed to them, I was more worried about the Pegasi getting themselves hurt! Seriously, they could be sucked in and burned to a crisp by the ships’ thrusters! Or, they might try something stupid like head-butting the hull of the ship! I’ve seen ponies so idiotic things before, so it isn’t a new concept to me. But, this is no laughing matter, so if any of these ponies make one wrong turn or misjudge the distance between themselves and a ship, it could get messy. One of my personal goals for this mission was to make sure that no pony and I mean NO PONY, got hurt during this entire ordeal. So, I turned my attention to the danger at hand and started forming a plan on how to get these Pegasi out of the battle-zone. I change my direction so that I’m heading towards one of the many groups of Pegasi. Currently, they were harassing a poor transport ship by ramming into it on multiple sides. I had an Idea. If I could just scare them out of the war area, then they might just think twice before returning to fight once again. So, I will myself to increase speed and rush towards the group of ponies. “Gang way!” I yell at the top of my lungs. The flying Pegasi look towards me and scatter without a second thought. They just barely get out of my wing’s range as I stab through the transport ship. I loop around, checking to see if I got my message across to them. So far, they were nowhere to be seen. I’ve forgotten how fast those little buggers can be in a pinch. After looking around for a few seconds, I give up the search and hope that they have enough sense to hide in a much safer place. While I turn my attention back to the task at hand, I spot a few more flocks of Pegasi trying to deal some damage to the enemy. Aw crap, I forgot! I’ve seen those ponies before while I was flying, but I was too busy dealing with the first group of Pegasi that I completely forgot about the rest of them. “Gah, I guess that I’ll have my hooves full for the next minutes or two…”I mutter to myself.