//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Ace Combat Equestria: Shattered Clouds 
// by Cpt Celti 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 1

“Rhapsody?” a voice called.
The pegasus mare tiredly waved her hand at the speaker. “Rhapsody,” the voice called again. “You need to get up.” A groan was Ditzy Do’s only response. The grey mare looked about nervously, biting her lips. Once again, she tapped the sleeping sea green pegasus. “Please! You need to get up. The Major will-“
A series of bangs hit the door. “Lieutenant Rhapsody!” an agitated voice cried out.
Determined to stay in her dream, the Lieutenant in question threw her pillow from her bunk at the door, grazing Ditzy Do’s face. But the second the soft cushion left her fingers, she felt the longing to have it back. Ditzy didn’t have the heart to force the Lieutenant up, but continued to prod her with a finger again. “The Major is getting angry! Do you even know what time it is?”
A loud grumble was her response as Rhapsody, or Rhappy to her friends, lifted her head up and looked at the clock on the nightstand next to her bunk, her tail flicking in her agitation. Ten minutes after six in the morn- Ten after six!? Zero-six-ten?! After reveille?! She bolted from her bed, grabbing her dark blue uniform shirt marking her as a member of the AEGIS Air Force. This was the third time she had slept in against the Major’s orders. Ditzy tossed her friend her garrison cap, which landed neatly on her sea green and mint mane… backwards.
“You still need to practice that, Ditz,” Rhapsody said.
Ditzy Do frowned and scuffed her hoof. “I’ve been practicing,” she responded swiftly.
“I know Ditz, I’m sorry,” Rhapsody amending quickly. She looked towards the door as Ditzy Do opened it, and let out a tiny shriek of surprise.
Piercing gold iris’s stared deeply at the shuddering Lieutenant Ditzy Do, who was always intimidated by the Major of the 14th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Once the Captain of the Wonderbolts, since the conflict started, she and the rest of her squadron of Wonderbolts had found themselves actually practicing their military element more and the yellow pegasus mare found herself promoted to the leader of an entire squadron of AEGIS pilots. Her executive officer, Soarin’, and an aspiring Wonderbolt pilot, Rainbow Dash, took over as Captains.
But thankfully for the gray mare, the Major’s eyes weren’t focused on her, but the other occupant of the room. Rhapsody, who had turned to see the source of the squeak while buttoning her blouse, snapped to attention at her hero and commanding officer, clean and quick as always to a salute at her superior officers.
Spitfire didn’t give the sea green mare the benefit and pulled her shades down just a little. Though it was still a little dark outside, Spitfire could see just fine. She mainly wore them indoors as an intimidation tactic. It worked well enough for the enlisted and newer pilots, but the more veteran pilots, it was just Spitfire being Spitfire. The younger pegasus held her stance at attention and barely moved. A model soldier and flier, except for one problem.
“Third time this week Lieutenant,” she said, voice dripping with disappointment. “Tell me how many times we’re going to do this before you get it through your thick head that you need to be up and moving either before or during reveille?”
“Well Ditzy was suppose to wake-“ Rhapsody started, but was abruptly cut off by Spitfire’s hand raising sharply.
“She shouldn’t have to make sure you’re up at the right time Lieutenant,” the Major snapped. “It’d be nice of her to look after you, but you’re the lead pony. Remember? She’s the wingpony now and she’s supposed to rely on you. Stand as you were."
Rhapsody gave a light huff and dropped relaxed her stance, finishing the buttons on her blouse. Spitfire replaced her sunglasses on her muzzle as the two mares in the room stepped out into the hall. They snapped to attention when the Major cleared her throat. “Lieutenant Ditzy Do. Let this be the last time the Lieutenant wakes up late. Prove to me that ‘third time’s the charmed’ is correct and it will be the last time.”
Ditzy Do squeaked a little and nodded rapidly. The poor mare was absolutely terrified of what might happen to her, as if being on the ground was the most dangerous place she could be. Much like her lead pony, she was a reserve pilot. Ponies that had been sitting reserve had to be called in to fill the positions of those lost during the failed raid on Sky Breaker. Ditzy Do had barely finished her officer's class when she received her deployment orders. “Yes ma’am!”
“I have high hopes for you two, but you need to prove those hopes aren’t just foal’s dreams, understood?”
The two mares nodded. “Yes ma’am.”
Spitfire nodded. “Good, now get your flanks over to the mess hall and get some chow. I’ll be briefing the squadron on the day’s schedule in one hour. Dismissed.”
Rhapsody and Ditzy trotted away, dismissed, towards the mess hall. Rhapsody had her suspicions that the briefing was about. She and Ditzy would be patrolling the border again, just like every Thursday. Hopefully it was another eventful week.
And equally, Rhapsody was hoping she was wrong.



The chow hall was bustling with AEGIS pilots and air crews. As Rhapsody and Ditzy retrieved their trays, heaped with today’s breakfast – fruit salad, oatmeal, and hay bacon – and sat at their usual table with their squad mates, there was an odd sense of calm despite the fact that the AEGIS forces were getting their flanks handed to them one battle at a time. The sea green pegasus mare was still a little sleepy, despite the swift wake, and grabbed a second mug of coffee along with her first and a glass of orange juice. She groaned after placing her tray on the table and shook her head to try and get the sleepiness out of her eyes, only to then notice one of her squad mates giggling.
“What’s so funny Sprig?” Rhapsody asked incredulously.
The grey-blue hippogriff opened her bright yellow eyes and pointed her claw at the mare's head. “You, of course. You look like you just rolled out of your bunk. Your mane is still a mess, mate.”
Rhapsody retorted, “I have my wingpony to thank for that.”
“You’re welcome,” Ditzy Do replied cheerfully, and returned to eating her fruit salad. Rhapsody sighed, relieved that, despite all the past jokes made at the poor gray mare’s expense because of her eyes, she still kept a decent sense of humor. Rhapsody herself had made a few jokes as well, but after finding the poor thing huddled in the supply closet, sobbing her misaligned eyes out, the rose-eyed pegasus couldn’t bring herself to jab at her anymore. As a result, Rhapsody and Ditzy Do had become fast friends, even being assigned the same F-14A Tomcat with Ditzy as her co-pilot. 
Rhapsody had made a number of other friends in her squadron, the first being Ditzy Do. The second was Sprig Root, a female hippogriff. She was a charming sort, keeping her feathers clean was just part of her daily regimen and being from the Republic of Hibern, Sprig was an exemplary officer. Rhapsody had to admit, she was attractive, beautiful even, but definitely not her type. Once or twice she had caught a few stallions watching her walk by. Her accent was often the selling point; Hibern was on the border with Trottingham, so the accents were spot on the same. A hotshot in her own right, she earned her wings in an F-16C.
Amethyst Karat, who sat across from Ditzy while devouring a hay bacon and daffodil sandwich, was Sprig’s polar opposite. She was a crystal pony, her coat shimmering the same color as her namesake, her mane just a few shades lighter. A rather timid mare like Ditzy, and that made the two of them thicker than thieves. It was luck at how fast the Crystal Empire was able to gather its reserve pilots, who had barely any flight experience, and transfer them covertly to air bases across the continent to friendly airspace to shore up numbers. Amethyst herself had only flown one sortie, and she hadn’t gotten a single kill during that.
Sitting directly across from Rhapsody was a pegasus like her, Mythic Dusk, but he however, was another story. He was a model pilot and officer, almost more than Rhapsody herself, at least when it came to inspections. Otherwise, he was a genuine smart-aleck and "mare's stallion", or so he called himself. His grey coat was accompanied by a blackened mane, the tips ending in silver, and to this day, Rhapsody had no idea how that was possible; maybe they were dyed? His deep, ocean blue eyes reflected a cool nature, but Rhapsody had seen him in a combat sortie. She had considered him borderline vicious, but he wasn’t a bad stallion on the ground. Around his neck though was a gothic sort of pendant; a steel sword with dragon heads on the hilt and a star design adorning the pommel. He even had a tattoo to match; a longsword over a kite shield. His F-16C had the same design on the nose. Being the only male in the squad, their particular group was comically called by the rest of the pilots ‘Mythic’s Harem’. It earned many groans from the four females, but Mythic more or less ignored it.
“Did you ladies hear?” he suddenly asked. “We lost Stratus Air Base yesterday morning.”
Rhapsody bolted her head up. Ditzy stopped halfway from eating her muffin. Sprig and Amethyst didn’t look surprised, though. They must’ve already heard. Though the sea green mare leaned forward. “You’re kidding right? How are they moving so fast?” she asked incredulously.
Sprig took over the conversation. “The gryphons destroyed a lot of our air power, remember? The base defense was only a couple bombers and six fighters, which were all destroyed on the ground. Scuttlebutt is saying a Meteor fighter dropped a fuel-air bomb on it.”
Ditzy swallowed hard, grimacing. The comment also made Rhapsody shudder. The Meteor squadron was Gryphnia’s elite fighter aces. If they were assigned to escort a bomb run, they didn’t lose a single bomber. Intercept enemy fighters? No planes lost and one-hundred percent kill rate. Strike an enemy position? Few survivors, if at all. They were thorough, cunning, fast, and incredibly lethal.
“So Gryphnia took over Stratus, landed their own planes, but the Meteors went back to guarding Sky Breaker, I'm guessing.” Rhapsody rested her head on her hand, her hoof tapping the ground. How much longer would it be before they struck their home base at Canterlot?
Before Ditzy could open her mouth to ask if Mythic was going to finish his muffin, the air raid siren blared. All past speech and opinions was replaced by everypony's frenzied pace to get to the locker room and into their flight suits.
Just as Rhapsody feared, it was going to be eventful.



Rhapsody finished zipping up her flight suit just as the Major stepped in, already dressed in her gear. Whilst everyone else had normal flight suits, the color depending on their particular nation, Equestrians wearing a dull olive green, Spitfire wore a blue and yellow streaked flight suit, akin to match her fighter, a rare and incredibly formidable F-15S/MTD. It was a fighter only the Wonderbolts flew.
“Alright everypony, listen up,” she cried, gaining the attention of Ponies, Crystals, Saddle Arabians and Hippogriffs alike. “AWACS picked up the IFF signature of what appears to be a flight of six bombers right for North Hill. There’s also similar groups heading for Las Pegasus and Manehatten. They’re slow, but they’ve got huge bomb bays, enough to pound and destroy the airstrip at North Hill, just outside of Hibern, and level the two cities. The Hippogriffs been putting up a good fight, keeping the Gryphons out of their country so far, but they’re still losing.” 
“They won’t get in! We’ll take ‘em down, ma’am!” a male hippogriff shouted. His fellows shouted their agreement, Sprig joining them, raising their fists in the air. Hippogriffs were a proud race, and had been fierce rivals of the gryphons. When it came down to blows, their fights were vicious, and it was often the best choice by allies to back off instead of jumping in or trying to break it up. The same went for air combat.
Spitfire smirked at them. “I have no doubts. Now your mission is simple. Intercept and shoot them down. They’ll have escort, so stay on your hooves.” She aimed her helmet at Rhapsody. “Lieutenant, you’re taking your wing and heading west to North Hill and intercepting the Bears before they arrive.” She then pointed at the other Squadron leader, a yellow pegasus mare with a pink mane. She looked almost terrified to be suiting up though. “Captain, take your wings and head towards Las Pegasus. Eliminate your bombers and any escort and secure the airspace until the rest of us are clear.”
“Y-yes ma’am,” she murmured.
“Just remember your training and you’ll be alright.” She then jerked her hand to the door. “Now everypony move!”



Minutes later, Rhapsody, Ditzy, Mythic, Sprig, and Amethyst were soaring in a four wing formation towards the bomber formation. Rhapsody and Ditzy Do, in their F-14A, were flanked by Mythic, Sprig, and Amethyst in their F-16Cs. It was mostly uneventful all the way to Hippogriff territory, but Canterlot was close by, so it wasn’t too long before the AWACS called in.
“Sky Gazer here,” a mare’s voice called. “Wraith, you should have a visual on the bombers now. Tallying up six bears in the formation, and looks like a squadron of smaller fighters as escort.”
Rhapsody nodded. “Wraith here, acknowledged. We’re moving forward to intercept.” She then smiled. “Hey Scoots, tell the base on the ground not to worry. We got this under control.”
A chuckle was her answer. “Copy that, Rhappy. They’re still on their guns, but I’ll tell them to get ready to brew more coffee.”
“Tally ho on the bombers!” Amethyst called. Sure enough, Rhapsody looked forward, opening the throttle to engage.
“All fighters scramble and engage!” Rhapsody cried. She shoved her throttle up, the variable wings of her Tomcat moving backwards to accommodate the speed.
“Shade engaging,” Mythic called, peeling off to chase an F-5.
“Banshee engaging,” Sprig announced.
“Phantom engaging,” Amethyst called, none-too-enthusiastically. She broke off with Sprig to head for the left side of the formation.
“Wraith and Specter, engaging,” Rhapsody called, already firing a pair of missiles. They two impacted the belly of the first bear. It detonated into a huge fireball, falling nose down into the mountains below.
“Confirmed kill on a bomber!” Sky Gazer announced.



“There’s our welcoming party!” a gryphon cried.
“Keep them away from the bombers!” the leader called. “We’re almost to the target.”
“This one’s too good! I can’t shake-“ his voice was cut off just as a missile impacted his wing, sending his F-4 careening into a bomber. The resulting crash sent them both hurtling to the ground.



Sprig grinned. “Nice kill, Shade!” 
Mythic laughed. “All it takes is some careful aiming and timing.”
Ditzy looked over at his F-16, already strafing the tail of another bear. “You make it look so easy.” Rhapsody said nothing, focusing her aim to send a large burst from her cannon into the engines of the same bear. The engine burst into flames before exploding along with the second and causing the entire wing to break off, sending the bomber into a helix towards its ultimate fate.
“Bombers have veered off! Their aiming for the nearby village!” Sky Gazer yelled. “Intercept and destroy! Hurry!”
“You heard the mare!” Sprig called. “Let’s go!” Rhapsody was in the middle of already turning just as the hippogriff and Amethyst, their fighter’s engines roaring, streaked by. Rhapsody may have been flying the largest plane in the group, but they were not the slowest. Ditzy groaned as Rhapsody increased the throttle again. Mythic soared to her right, keeping pace. To the side, Rhapsody could see Sprig and Amethyst engaging four Phantom IIs. The Hippogriff seemed to be having an easy time while Amethyst seemed to just be an annoyance.
Suddenly, her alarm blared, and Ditzy craned her head back.
“Bogey on our tail!”



The F-5 pilot grinned, his beak curling back as his clawed hand gripped the control stick. His pointed talon rested just above the missile fire button. This pilot was so going to get it. “Cutter 6 here, got a bead on the flight lead.” He jammed the button down.



“He’s firing!” Ditzy yelled, terrified.
“Calm down, Specter!” Rhapsody yelled back. She yanked the throttle back. The Tomcat lurched to a halt, nearly stalling in midair. The fighter almost went completely vertical as the F-5 flew directly underneath. Rhapsody jammed the throttle forward again, firing off a missile at the Tiger that nearly took her out. “Fox 2!” The weapon shot off the rail and speared its way through the clouds, impacting just beyond the cockpit.
“Bandit down!” Ditzy called.
“Bombers down, too!” Mythic cried. Rhapsody turned her head to her left to see the last two bombers hurtle towards the ground. All six bombers had been destroyed.
“Wraith to Sky Gazer. Ghost wing confirmed kill on all bombers. We’re heading home.” She turned her control stick to the east, her squad mates falling into formation back to Canterlot. The tomcat and three fighting falcons regained formation just as thanks came up from the ground for the rescue.
“Copy that, Wraith,” their AWACS called back. “Just got a message from Bolt One and Blue Jay One. They’ve downed their targets and are heading back as well. Good job, everypony. All aircraft RTB.”
Rhapsody smiled and pulled her oxygen mask off, looking back at Ditzy. She craned her arm back, holding up a thumb that was promptly replied to in kind. “Good job, Ghost. Let’s head on home. I left my coffee on the table.”
Sprig chuckled. “I hope they still have pancakes left.” Rhapsody smiled, making an ‘Mmm’ sound. She suddenly grinned wickedly and snapped her oxygen mask back in place and pushed her throttle once again to full. Ditzy yelped in surprise as she held on to the canopy.
“First one to Canterlot gets the first pick on pancakes! One-two-three go!!” she cried, though she was already a long way ahead, afterburners to the maximum as the tomcat roared.
“No fair!” Sprig yelled and blazed after her.
“Wait for me!” Amethyst whined as her Falcon sped up to try and catch her squad mates.
Mythic shook his head, slowly pushing his F-16 forward to rejoin them. “Mares…”