Chapter 20
The artillery barrage ceased. Smoke billowed up from the impacts as the snow finally came down from the explosions.
"CHARGE!" Shining Armor cried, swinging his sword forward. The AEGIS soldiers around shouted and roared, their bayonets fixed as they charged the broken Gryphnian lines. The tank he had taken up position inside surged forward, providing cover for those infantry still shooting. The gryphons sounded another retreat as they clashed with the AEGIS troops, bullets still flying all around. A pair of gryphons had taken wing and were shooting down at the defenders, only to be speared by a pair of pegasi and driven into the dirt.
"Don't let up! Keep fighting! Push them back to the border!" Shining leaned to his right towards the side of the tank. "Commissar Karat! I need you on the front! Grab a rifle and continue pushing these troops! They're tired, but we have to secure a better front!"
The Crystal Commissars had been an old tool of the feudal ages of Equis and of the many conflicts that occurred after the fall of Sombra and the Empire's return. A voice of troop morale, they stood alongside the nation's troops, shouting words of encouragement, often giving orders when the commanders were not able. While not ones to fight in actual combat, more than one had taken up a weapon to show they were just as committed to the battle as their comrades. Equestria and Gryphnia themselves had relieved their armies of Commissars, but the Crystal Empire still had many, and seeing that they had been that way for more than a thousand years, Princess Cadence did not have the heart to relieve them of their ancient duties.
The aged, violet crystal pony turned to his commander, crisply saluting and holding it there until he was relieved. "Yes sir! But with respect," He looked towards the frontlines, where AEGIS troops were heavily engaged with Gryphon soldiers. The latter was pushing back, but the prideful Crystal soldiers were still fighting and shouting, shooting and stabbing their way through the gryphons that had taken hold of so much of their home country. As he watched, a pair of crystals had opened up a gryphon tank and threw a grenade inside, promptly closing it. Another group where beating the crew of another tank before taking it over and turning it around against its former fellows. "I do not believe they need more coaxing."
Shining chuckled and nodded. "I see what you mean, Commissar, but until this line is secured, we must keep going. I trust you to do that."
Commissar Karat saluted once more. "Yes sir!" The Crystal grabbed a rifle from the front of the Laclerc tank Shining stood on and rushed to the front, continuing to shout his words of morale. "Push forward soldiers of the Empire! We will drive these fiends out of our lands once and forever more! Keep fighting, keeping driving! With your bullets, your bayonets, with your bare hands!"
AEGIS continued the charge.
"Killing spree!"
Soarin laughed. "I told you she's vicious with that thing!"
Rhapsody ignored him and continued shooting at the elusive enemy soldier. But once again she had disappeared behind the pile of scrap metal. This unforgiving junkyard, this tiny map, had been her bane many times in the past. Rhapsody carefully made her way around, preparing her assault rifle for –
The riot shield struck her dead on.
"Damnit!" she cried.
Spitfire laughed. "How many is that now- Oh! Predator drone!"
Rhapsody shouted and ran for cover. "Enemy predator missile inbound! Take cover!" her commander cried. Rhapsody dove for cover. The explosion rocked the area, doing some damage to her, but more or less leaving her unscathed. Rhapsody jumped from her cover. "Haha!"
The riot shield rammed her from behind. "Haha!"
"Gunship is standing by!" Spitfire's commander announced.
Rhapsody snarled violently as she continuously fired at the Major's riot shield. Her bullets from her favorite rifle, that many considered the worst, pounded against the surface. "That thing is cheap!" She kept firing, threw a flashbang, and ran. Spitfire sprinted to keep up until finally the younger pegasus mare's soldier ran out of steam and the Major once again bashed her with the riot shield. It did damage, but not enough to kill her. There was suddenly an explosion behind her, one of Rhapsody's claymore mines she had almost forgot about. She turned to see Spitfire on the ground. She hastily picked the shield up. "Haha!"
Her screen suddenly went white. A shotgun then went off and the round ended. "Haha."
Rhapsody glared daggers at the Major, who stuck her tongue out. "Cheeky bitch." The rest of the room laughed. The sea green mare STILL could not believe she had been beaten by Spitfire only using the riot shield. She had made the challenge and Spitfire had merely grinned, Soarin and Rainbow sharing a look of amusement and pity.
She now knew why.
"I spent the majority of my multiplayer time on this game perfecting use of the riot shield and the SPAS-12. I was nicknamed the turtle," Spitfire said proudly, leaning back in her chair. "Also… choose a different rifle. The FAMAS is so useless." She and Rhapsody shared a look of contempt when their eyes met, before they started snickering. Soon both burst into a fit of giggles, and then full out laughter as they got up from the couch and headed for the bar to get drinks. But just as they sat down, Soarin came around the corner.
"Rhapsody, Spitfire, I need you."
Spitfire snickered as she grabbed her glass. "Aren't you already taken, Soarin? What would Dash think?"
The stallion blushed, the two mares sharing another laugh before he shook his head and pointed to the hallway. "Now please!"
Rhapsody wiped her eye and nodded. "He said please."
They got up and followed the Major to his office. He was silent the entire walk there before arriving at not his office, but the office of General Khalid, AEGIS's commander of the Saddle Arabian front. He had asked for the mare of the 14th Tactical that was tearing through the gryphons, that had destroyed Sky Breaker, and shot down a Meteor who before were deemed unbeatable. However, the news that he had struck Rhapsody's cord.
"North, sir?" she asked incredulously.
General Khalid nodded crisply. "I'm just as shocked as you. I could really use you here, but with both the Wonderbolts and Ghost in the southern theatre, we're in desperate need to send more of our best pilots to other parts to help shore up their defenses. For the Mother Mare's sake, Princess Celestia has sent her Capital Defense Squadron to Dodge Junction to help take back the deserts with help from the buffalo. Those ponies were trained to guard Canterlot and the Royal Families private jet. With two of AEGIS's best fighter wings in the south, the others are in dire straits, so I've been asked to relieve one to the North, to the Crystal Empire."
"Sir, I can't just leave! There's battle here where we're needed."
"I know Captain; I wish I didn't have to do this. But this was not so much an order as it was a plea." He leaned on his desk and turned to look Rhapsody square in the eye. "The Crystal Prince has been fighting hard on the northern front, and Meteor squadron attacked during one of their major offenses. He was hurt badly and it's bad enough he'll be sitting out the rest of the war." The General then waved her over to his map of the continent hanging on his wall. "I'm sending you and Ghost Wing pretty far north," he explained, tapping the location of an air base Rhapsody would have considered perilously close to the front. "That's Cadenza Forward Base. You'll be under the command of Commissar Karat, if I'm not mistaken, one in your wing is of relation."
"What'll be our departure time there, sir?" Rhapsody asked.
Khalid smiled sadly at her. "Unfortunately Captain, you'll be leaving tomorrow morning after you have chow. You're needed there as soon as you can, but the Princess will at least give you a good night's sleep before you head north. You'll be fueled up in the air as you'll be flying non-stop."
Rhapsody nodded. "I understand sir."
"Good, go inform your Wing. You leave tomorrow morning after chow for the Crystal Empire. Dismissed."
Marcus prodded his lamb with his forked. Though he asked his food to be brought to his room, as his father was having a rowdy attempt at morale boosting for his senior officers, the youngest gryphon prince had no appetite. For the months that had followed the outbreak of the war, and the serious grabs of territory the army had taken, it seemed he and his brothers would be walking on a continent that belonged to the Kingdom of Gryphnia. Instead, it went to a stalemate, and then to a full out landslide of that same territory being lost.
The western deserts of Equestria were being overrun with Equestrian ground forces supported by the native buffalo tribes who knew the land better than any, even the Settlers. The Hibernian Hippogriffs, Gryphnia's ancient rivals, were ravaging the land and skies and had already taken a foothold inside Gryphnia. The Saddles had done the same while the Equestrians were making a wider push inward as well. It suddenly became that all eyes were on the north. If the Crystal Ponies were ever able to start pushing south, they could link up with the rest of AEGIS.
If that happened, the Gryphnian Capital of Fyrick would be vulnerable.
Setting his plate aside, young Marcus leaned on his bedroom window. Outside, the toll of the war could be seen. Gryphnia was getting desperate for military surplus and troops. More than once his father had told everyone over the radio waves and the television that it was their duty to defend their homes and their kingdom. More than once Marcus had perched on the roof of the castle, his keen eyes surveying the streets below. More than once he had seen men, fathers and sons, being forced out of their homes by military police and being driven off to be conscripted into the army. Mothers, daughters, wives, left in tears as they were shown off, often never to return to their arms. Families were broken, lives were ruined.
No. His country wasn't desperate. The King was desperate.
He still wanted to prove that Gryphnia was a dominate force on Equis, with or without Sky Breaker. He wanted to show the world that they were not pushovers, that the gryphon spirit of battle cannot be extinguished just because they were against a more numerous foe.
Marcus sniffed, wiping his eye as he turned to the castle cemetery. His grandfather was buried there, as were his fathers' before him and their fathers' before them. His mother wasn't far from the Claw Clan memorial in the center. Marcus desperately wished she was here. Maybe she could have talked him out of this war, maybe even convince him to disassemble Sky Breaker since the Changeling swarms were all but extinguished after the super weapon tore them apart in the last war.
But in that war the Ponies were allies, as were the hippogriffs, the Saddles, the Crystal's, and now, in this new war, they were the enemy. Marcus sighed heavily, knowing there had to be something he could do.
Before it was too late for Fyrick.
"Can't believe I'm going home! And my father is still alive!"
Rhapsody peeked out towards the right side of her canopy, spotting the Hornet belonging to Ghost Wing's resident Crystal Pony. It had been over half a day, night falling faster this far north, and it was clear to the whole of Ghost Wing that their resident Crystal was ready to go home, see her country, regardless of the flames of war licking at the borders.
"Sadly, Lieutenant, we're not going to be there long," Spitfire called from the backseat of the Tomcat in the lead. "The Crystal Princess needs our help, and then more than likely we'll be sent to the eastern front." The Crystal let out a whine of disappointment, so the Major added, "I'll see if I can- sorry... if Rhapsody can get you a moment with your father."
The whine was followed by a squeak of delight before the Hornet performed a barrel roll. Spitfire looked forward to her pilot, who looked back with a groan. "Way to put me on the spot, ma'am."
Spitfire snickered. "Well you're the Wing Leader, so you call the shots. Otherwise I'd do it." Rhapsody merely shook her head, staring back out her canopy.
"Hey girls!" Mythic suddenly cried. "Check out starboard!"
Ghost Wing looked and were in utter awe of the sight. Rhapsody's eyes widened. She heard Sprig and Spitfire breath sighs of amazement. Amethyst chuckled. "I used to see these every night. It's been a couple years since my family would go and watch. Beautiful seeing them again."
Rhapsody had no words as she stared in amazement. Ribbons of color, greens and blues, reds and violets, streaked across the sky in a fantastic display of light. They waved and pulsed to different colors, moving like grand benign serpents that changed their color to match their dispositions. Framed against the blackened, star filled and cloudless sky, the Crystal Lights shone down on the frigid landscape beneath them. Colors of all kinds danced and played through the sky and reflected off the ice beneath them.
"There's an old legend in the Empire," Amethyst explained, "that our ancestors live on in those lights. They meld and shape, becoming one in the heavens and put on this display to show they are happy where they are. The spirits look down on the Empire and watch their descendants grow, and guide their actions. When the descendant's time comes, they will join their ancestors in the lights above the Empire and join the colorful dance." She then sighed. "I bet Grandpa's up there somewhere."
For a few moments, the pilots allowed themselves to be whisked into the display, watching as they flew just below the lights. The ribbons danced and played above them, their brilliant colors weaving under the stars in their own world, their own dance. Rhapsody smiled as she watched, her entire body becoming eased. The war drifted away, as did the fighting, and the pilots of Ghost Wing permitted themselves to –
"Sorry to break up the moment, everypony," Sky Gazer suddenly called, "but I just got a wire from Northern Command. They're conducting a north landing operation to outflank the gryphons just about a hundred miles from where you guys are. The satellite just picked up a horde of cruise missiles heading their way!"
Rhapsody frowned, forcefully tearing her rose irises from the fantastic display, a miracle she had never seen before except on television, and clipped on her oxygen mask. "How many are we talking, Sky Gazer?"
"According to the report, we're looking at about ten in each group. Since the Gryphnian Navy's been put in shambles, they've been trying to halt our advances by striking us from a distance. They're using their massive stockpiles of cruise missiles to hammer our lines. That's what nearly devastated the north advance by the Empire. They were almost to Glacier when the bombardment hit. Nearly killed the Crystal Prince in the process," Sky Gazer explained swiftly.
"So how far are we?" Amethyst asked.
Sky Gazer looked over her notes, according to her silence, before responding, "Head directly north and you should see their glows on the horizon. According to the wire, they're tracking a total of... oh my – twenty five cruise missiles are heading right for the northern front! They won't survive that impact! And they're flying at ultra-low altitudes so our radar can't spot them. Scouting force just barely saw them in time!"
Sprig huffed. "No kidding, mate! Let's double time it!"
Rhapsody throttled up as ghost wing turned to intercept.
"Damn it's cold up here! Why were we sent this far north anyway?"
The lead gryphon pilot snarled. "If I hear one more complaint from you, I'm gonna jump from this cockpit and gut you with a spork! We're here to run escort for the Valkyrie and make sure the cruise missiles reach the AEGIS line."
The wing-gryphon huffed and shook his head. "Like AEGIS would send anyone this far. We've been up here for over three hours and no contacts. It's an endless expanse of ice, igloos, ice, snow, and more ice! How can the Crystals live up here? Did I mention the ice?!"
"They just do, I guess."
"Falcon 4 to Ridgeback wing. Radar has confirmed contacts coming from the south!" the bomber called just a few miles ahead. "We've dropped our payload of missiles and are heading back to base. You hurry and take them out."
"Ridgeback 3 to Falcon 4, we copy your last and moving to intercept."
The pair of Gryphnian F-22 Raptors turned south and sped off.
"There they are!" Sprig called. "A lot more than I thought!"
Rhapsody rubbed her hands together. "They're flying a straight path, easy pickings."
"Don't let your guards down, everypony. A strike this important is bound to have a surprise in case of a counter attack."
Rhapsody tilted her head back. "Thinking escort? For cruise missiles?"
"Gryphnia is getting desperate for ground and victories," Mythic answered. "Wouldn't put it past them."
"Got nothing on radar," Sky Gazer added. "And here's another wire from the front. From... oh man, from Crystal Prince Shining Armor: 'We're depending on your efforts.'"
"Huh. Simple and to the point," Spitfire muttered. "Just like the former Captain."
"Missiles in sight, Sky Gazer. We're commencing the operation!" Rhapsody cried as she pulled up.
The ten cruise missiles streaked underneath Ghost Wing. "Phantom, Banshee, hit the ones on the left. Shade, we're hitting the right."
"I recommend you use your guns for this, Ghosts," Spitfire called. "I got a bad feeling in my tail. Save the missiles."
"You get an itch in your tail too? Hey Sprig, you can compare notes."
"Shut up, Mythic."
With only a laugh as her response, Mythic and Rhapsody took up a close position to each other and opened fire with their cannons. The twin Hornets beside them did the same. Dozens in hot lead streaks tore through the cruise missile line. Explosions lit up the air as they were destroyed almost immediately. Ten flares of fire were all they marked the passing of the salvo of missiles as the Wing pulled up and continued their path north.
"That was way too easy, you know."
"Good because we've got another salvo heading for the landing forces! Hurry up and shoot them down," Sky Gazer cried.
"Throttle up, Ghost Wing!" Rhapsody called as her Tomcat led the charge to the next target. They didn't have to look far before they saw the twelve streaks flying just ahead of them. They followed the same path as their predecessors did, a straight path low to the icebergs in the frozen sea beneath them. It was no wonder radar couldn't pick them up.
"Same trick as before," Rhapsody called before giving a quick burst from her cannon. One of the missiles blew up –
Suddenly the group split up into two.
"The hell?" Mythic exclaimed. "That is cheating!"
"Sky Gazer! Missiles have split into two groups!" Rhapsody informed swiftly.
"They're fifty miles from the landing zone! You have to take them out, fast!" Sky Gazer cried out.
Ghost Wing split off again, Sprig and Amethyst to the right while Rhapsody, Spitfire, and Mythic tore into the group on the left. However, this group was still the same in the aspect that all of the missiles flew in straight lines. Once again, the AEGIS fighters lit the sky ablaze with hot lead from their cannons. Rhapsody pulled upwards and raked her cannon along the side of the group, striking all of them, the Typhoon of Mythic soaring right beneath her.
Spitfire huffed before looking around at the clear northern sky. "Weird. This was way too easy."
"Maybe we're getting too good?" Amethyst offered.
Mythic laughed. "That might be it."
An alarm suddenly went off in their radios. The wing looked around the area to see where the threat was. "Sky Gazer to all planes, we've tracked the source of the missiles. There's a XB-70 peeling off to the edge of the combat zone at supersonic. They must've been dropping the payload. And according to this, radar is just barely picking up the signature of a pair of... Raptors?"
"What?!" Sprig shouted. "Those are stealth fighters! What the hell is Gryphnia thinking, sending stealth fighters on an escort mission?"
"Must be running out of options, Banshee," Sky Gazer replied curtly. "And... what the..." Rhapsody quirked her brow at the sudden pause. "That's strange... there's a lone missile traveling towards the landing zone at supersonic. This one is... different. Be careful. Sending coordinates."
"Tally ho! Got two bogies!"
The first raptor circled around the group. "Pair of Hornets, a Typhoon and... a Tomcat?"
The second blinked. "Wait... Tomcat? Did you see the insignia?"
"Yeah, it looked like a... ghost."
"Ah sh- Take that one down first!"
Rhapsody turned away from the pair of Gryphnian fighters that bared down on the group. Suddenly her alarm blared in hear ears. Looking down, they had locked onto her. "Hang on Wraith! I'm gonna delouse your... damn it, I can't lock onto him!" Sprig kept a close pace on the Raptor chasing her flight lead. The hippogriff suddenly grunted angrily and there was a click. "Don't need a computer for this!"
A hot stream of lead shot from the Hornet's nose, tearing into the stealth fighter, a spout of flame erupting from the wing. The gryphon pilot suddenly broke off to the west, and Sprig went into hot pursuit.
"Do not engage the fighters, repeat, do not engage them! Take out that missile!" Sky Gazer shouted.
Mythic replied simply. "We'll take out the fighters and then the bomber. Wraith, you find that missile and take it out." Rhapsody turned to the right, just as Mythic tore through the sky right by her and blazing a trail north. "I saw some contrails over here. I think it's the bomber; he's mine."
Rhapsody grinned and murmured. "Sick 'em, Shade." She tilted her control stick to the right, finding a large flare from what had to be the mystery missile. She leveled out and squeezed her trigger. A quick burst from her cannon seemed to get its attention, for while she barely scared a hit, the missile began zigzagging erratically. Rhapsody's rose irises bulged as she watched. "This thing is gonna be impossible to hit!"
"Try using your missile!" Spitfire offered. Rhapsody nodded, waiting for a lock. Her reticule began tracking, but it was moving too fast for her computer to lock on accurately. She got a lock once, but when her thumb hovered over the button, she lost track and the missile couldn't lock. The missile dropped and flew right off into the air and away from the battle. Rhapsody growled her frustration and kept weaving after it.
"Fighters are down!" Amethyst called out. "First stealth fighter kill. Feels good."
Mythic then reported in after. "Bomber is now going down in flames. Wraith, you're clear."
"Yeah, if this thing would hold still for one second!"
Spitfire leaned forward, while clutching her stomach. "Take it easy! I'm about to blow chunks back here!"
"I keep bags under the seat now hold on!" Rhapsody began flipping and rolling, trying to match the cruise missiles trajectory. But the lumbering Tomcat was barely keeping up. Rhapsody began to feel her wrists cramping up from the jerking motions she had to make to keep the missile in front of her.
"I have an idea," Spitfire suddenly called. "Level out."
"But I'll lose it-"
"Level out!"
Rhapsody snarled but turned the Tomcat right-side up and flew level. The missile continued its zigzag pattern while the pegasus mare's head darted to try and keep it in sight. While the Tomcat continued its forward flight, Spitfire exhaled, finally able to gather her thoughts before they blew out her mouth with her dinner. "It's moving in an erratic pattern, but if you watch, you can match its trajectory."
"That's what I was trying to do, ma'am," Rhapsody snapped.
Spitfire swatted the canopy, causing a deep slapping noise that resounded through the cockpit. "Hey, take it easy; I'm trying to help! Now watch it. Keep your eyes on it." Spitfire looked out the canopy, watching the large missile zigzag through the clear sky, weaving but still unable to shake the pursuing fighter. "Keep it in sight, watch for the turns. Arm your missile; keep your eyes forward, feel with your hands."
Rhapsody simply nodded, letting her hand slowly feel her stick for the tab, which she promptly flicked up with her thumb, revealing the button to fire her missile. "Take your time, this is going to require a split second reaction in a time span of none. Calm your mind. Thumb over the button, get ready."
The missile reticule arced across Rhapsody's HUD, tracking but never quite getting the lock it required. The rose eyes narrowed behind the visor as the mare focused on her quarry. "Ease your thumb, get ready..." The mare took a deep breath, sighting up her shot. It was going incredibly fast, but she was somehow able to drown out the voices of the rest of her wing as she sped through the sky.
"Thirty miles until it hits the landing forces!" Sky Gazer shouted.
Rhapsody watched for her moment. Though she had never done this before, the moment she could feel was coming fast. Her reticule began to shorten its distance until it was only in a small circle now. Upon fully breathing in, she exhaled slowly. "Now."
The button was down the same second her reticule locked.
Like a thrown spear, the missile flew off the rail from her Tomcat, slicing the air as it spun and locked onto the tail of the missile. Rhapsody could've sworn it was all in slow motion as she could see her attack rip into the tail of the cruise missile. She grinned that she finally took out the final missile, allowing her to breathe easier. There was a brilliant fiery blast following the collision of the missiles –
This was followed by a more brilliant explosion that shook the very sky she was in.
The Tomcat lurched and threw itself in every direction. Rhapsody inhaled swiftly as she gripped the stick to regain control. The blast tore the sky apart as a rainbow of colors shot across her vision, forcing her to squint as she grit her teeth. She could hear Spitfire panting rapidly as she gripped the canopy's handles. Alarms went off all over the cockpit, as the fighter continued to shake and toss and turn. It felt as if she was in the same display of colors when Sky Breaker fired its shells. She remembered screaming as she saw an iceberg bearing its icy fangs at her just before she regained control and pulled upwards into a sharp, upwards arc.
Upon leveling herself out, she realized then her eyes were the widest they had ever been. Her hands were like vices on her controls. Looking down at her HUD and her console, some of her systems were flickering and her altimeter's glass had cracked. Rhapsody's breathing then turned to heavy panting as she gave her stick a few good tosses. Her flaps were a little loose, but nothing the ground crews couldn't fix in a good day's work.
She then turned her thoughts to what the hell she just destroyed. That sort of explosion, and the missile itself; she had never seen such a weapon before. If Gryphnia had weapons like that, why had they been holding them back? It had nearly forced her to crash; she could only imagine what it could have done to anypony who was struck by a live warhead like –
"HUUAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!"
Rhapsody blinked and looked back at the wet noise before hearing a series of gags and coughs. She couldn't help but allow a smirk as she began to ask, "What is going on – "
"Tell anyone about this and I will destroy you. To death," Spitfire threatened. The paper bag was then sealed and placed under the seat. "I'll thank Ditzy she packed those."
"That was a huge explosion! The hell kind of weapon was that?" Sprig called out.
Mythic huffed and replied, "No idea... but I want one."
Sky Gazer was next to speak up. "We've just confirmed that all missiles have been destroyed, and that last one... what an explosion. I also just got a wire from the landing forces: They saw the explosion and thank you for the fireworks display. No casualties on the ground and they are moving inland to rendezvous with the rest of the Northern AEGIS forces. All aircraft RTB."
Applejack pulled down her binoculars and smirked. "Looks like Ghost Wing did it again. Ah want to know who that pilot is."
"I want to know when we're going to be in a warmer place."
The former farmpony turned down to see Rarity clutching her arms and shivering madly just inside the tank, her upper half all that was sticking up out of it. The helmet was grudgingly on her head to keep it warm. Sadly, she did not pay attention to Applejack's other advisories to her troops about packing the warmest gear they had. She was at least wearing her standard camouflaged jacket and trousers with the boots. But upon landing on the icy beach, the unicorn mare decided she needed to get off quickly before she got seasick... and walked right into the freezing waters and ruined her dress uniform she was so fond of.
"We'll get to the outpost in another couple of hours, Rares. After that, we'll get you something hot to drink, AND MAYBE GET EVERYPONY SOME HOT CHOW?" Cheers erupted amongst the massed gathering of Saddle Arabian Leopards, Equestrian M1s, and Hibernian Challengers as they drove across the heavy snow to their destination. "Afterwards, ah plan on making sure we all get a decent amount of sleep. We got a huge battle coming up."
"Glacier?" Rarity asked through shattering teeth.
Applejack nodded solemnly. "Glacier." The farmpony stood up from behind the machine gun position she so fondly used in battle and sat down on the turret next to Rarity. "Let's worry about getting to the Crystals before they're overrun first." The two mares' ears suddenly swiveled to the side to watch a group of fighter jets peeling south. Applejack smiled.
"That mare is somethin' else."