ACE COMBAT EQUESTRIA
SHATTERED CLOUDS
Prologue
Fourteen years after the Changeling Regime’s failure to conquer Equestria and her allied nations.
Sky Breaker, the Gryphnian weapon of mass destruction, originally set up to destroy the Regime’s airborne forces. Upon discovering its potential as aerial defense weapon, the Gryphon Kingdom’s political saber-rattling became even more prominent in the months that followed. There were pleas from the other nations that were supposedly allied with the Gryphons to halt their vicious rambling, concerning how much more trade and tribute they should receive because they had the most powerful weapon in the world to defend their neighbors.
Deciding enough was enough, Princess Celestia of Equestria, Prime Minister Ironbeak of the Hippogriff Republic of Hibern, King Anu Kaubr of Saddle Arabia, and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire convened a meeting and planned an attack to destroy Sky Breaker. Though it would result in a fierce war, it was a sabotage mission they could no longer avoid to pass over.
Pilots and planes from all four nations, fighters and bombers alike, gathered in the skies and flew to destroy Sky Breaker, but once they entered range, Sky Breaker opened fire, destroying everything within range of its guns. Over two-hundred pilots lost their lives in a mere five seconds, and AEGIS (Allied Equis Guard of Independent States) air power was almost completely extinguished. Gryphnia openly chastised this failed attack of their neighboring nations’, announcing that if they wanted war, they would receive a war that would shake the foundations of the very world.
Even as he finished his announcement and declaration of war, Gryphnian forces were already moving into Hibern and Equestria, while they viciously fought the Saddle Arabian forces. The Crystal Empire was almost cut in half by the lightning haste of the Gryphons. Key points along the continent were lost, and the AEGIS was forced to evacuate and abandon areas all over the continent.
Six months have passed since the first bastion was taken, three weeks since the last shot was fired, and Gryphnia controls much of the mainland. Though the AEGIS forces are weak, they are getting ready to launch an offensive at any second. If only they could gain a little ground.
Of course, to gain ground, you must fight for it in the air…
I remember a time when wars were just something that happened outside my little town. It was an abstract concept that occurred outside of the Crystal Empire, nothing more than a show on the television or a story on the radio. It wasn’t until gryphons flew over my town, or tanks rumbled down the roads, or soldiers marched down the street did I realize that war was a real thing. And it happens often, just like it did now.
I remember going outside with my family, to watch these strange new machines the Imperial military had soar through the sky. They were loud, but they were agile, their shapes were beautiful, and it was definitely something I had envisioned myself doing in life. The pilots were trained by those found in Canterlot, where many AEGIS pilots were trained. We hardly had such a thing as an air force when King Sombra was our ruler, but now that we had one, everypony wanted to watch them.
I remember when I was just a young colt my parents were watching something on TV about an important job our pilots had to do. I couldn’t sleep, so I snuck down the stairs to watch the screen from afar. It was a camera watching a large air base that was further in the capitol, just a mile from the palace. Even from here, I could hear the rolling thunder of their engines as they took off. Many of our neighbors woke up and went out into the street to watch them. I looked out the window of my room, and tried to count. I only reached fifty before the last glow of an engine burned away on the horizon.
I remember the next morning, the air around my house, while once filled with the sounds of my mother making breakfast, the air was now filled with a gentle sobbing. My mother was on the couch, my father holding her tightly, as the TV screen showed a large amount of wreckage on the ground. Fires raged all across this canyon and a nearby valley. The mare was talking about how massive shockwaves and explosions had knocked every single allied plane from the sky. It wasn’t until a few minutes later did I realize, that the air force the Crystal Empire was so proud of finally acquiring had been all but destroyed in less than ten seconds.
I remember being on my way to school with my friends, when we heard the sounds of a heavy engine above us. I looked up, and it wasn’t just one. There were many. They were bigger than the planes I had once seen at an air show when the Crystal Empire was showing off their new planes. They were flying over our town, and seven large black shapes dropped from the bottoms of these large planes. They disappeared behind the large houses for only a moment before we saw the explosions that rocked the ground we stood on, and we were quite a ways away from them.
I remember my friends were shouting for me to follow them into the nearby woods, where we hid for hours as it felt. Loud sirens were coming from the city, only to be silenced mere seconds later. We saw more explosions from objects dropped from the large planes going over. Once it looked like it was safe, we didn’t head for school, but rather ran back to the town. Fires were raging all over the place as fire brigades rushed families away from the flames, some carrying out my neighbors who weren’t even moving. My friends went their separate ways, screaming out for their parents. I found myself doing the same until I saw them.
I remember finding my house, or rather what was left of it. Behind me was a large hole that still burned. A fire brigade had already doused it with water, but I was looking at my house. My parents weren’t there, and neither was my house. The only thing standing where it should have been was some broken, burning pieces of wood and some stone. Other than that, there wasn’t anything there. It was then I realized I had just been picked up and hefted onto somepony’s shoulder and being carried away to a waiting truck that quickly sped away from the scene.
I remember… when peace was a very real thing…