//------------------------------//
// Chapter 28 
// Story: Ace Combat Equestria: Shattered Clouds 
// by Cpt Celti 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 28

"Meteor Squadron, engage!"
The Terminator's split off, with Six blazing after the leader. The Tomcat. The Wraith.
"Damnit! One of them already got a lock," one of her younger pilots shouted.


"Fox two!" Mythic cried.
The Terminator flipped, letting the missile fly under while the pilot banked sharply up and around. Mythic's Typhoon turned tight to keep up, the g-forces pulling him hard into his seat, but the nimble Gryphon fighter was more agile. Soon, the Terminator had performed the signature cobra maneuver, and the grey pegasus stallion soon found himself being the hunted.
"Damn it! I can't keep up with them!" he shouted.
Sprig suddenly flew by, chasing one of the Meteors in her Hornet. "Just keep out of their aim!"
"Easier said than done, Banshee!" he retorted.


Rhapsody rolled, narrowly being shredded by the Terminator's cannon. "Just keep on your targets! We'll get 'em!" Yet as she finished her sentence, she knew well enough that the only fighter capable of handling the Su-37s was Major Spitfire's F-15S/MTD. The Wonderbolt already had her hands full with two who were chasing her. Amethyst had given pursuit, but she was hard pressed to keep up. The three other planes had thrust vectoring, making them more agile, and therefore Amethyst was simply just an annoyance on the Meteors more than a threat.
Still, the Crystal mare wouldn't give up, even if the Major just uttered the words, 'I can't shake them!'
Rhapsody then banked low, blazing by a skyscraper, a volley of bullets scrapping by her wings as she rose into the sky. Her engines gave her all they could, her wings folded back to compensate for the speed, as it was all she could do was dodge everything thrown at her.


Six narrowed her eyes. "Come on... You've got to slip up sometime. Though I'll be disappointed if you do."


"Shade! Missile! Break!" Spitfire yelled.
Mythic pulled to his right, hard, and the Meteor came blazing right by and nearly rammed his Typhoon. "He overshot me!" he reported, and once again gave chase. His missile reticule darted all over his HUD as he tried to get a lock. The Terminator's pilot would have none of it though, and continued to dart all over the skies. "Hold still, you bastard," he hissed. His thumb hovered over the button for his missile. His breathing pace increased as the reticule got closer.


"This pony's all over me! Someone delouse my six!" Meteor Nine cried.
"Hang on, bro," Ten said. "I got him."


Amethyst's voice suddenly cut through the haze of battle. "Phantom to Shade. One of the Meteor's broke away from the Major and heading your way!"
"Roger!" As if on cue, Mythic's alarm began buzzing. Taking a quick glance back through his canopy, he saw the familiar red tipped wings that were the trademark of the Meteor. Swearing, he broke away from his quarry and dove for the streets. As expected, the enemy fighter followed. "He's all over me! Let's see if he wants to play chicken!" He continued his dive, and suddenly the warning blared. Enemy missile locked and fired. Putting what agility his Typhoon had to use, he yanked his stick back and pulled up, nearly slamming into the ground. At this distance, the missile should have slammed into the ground.
Yet the alarm kept blaring. He chanced a look back, and saw the missile still streaking after him, the Terminator not far behind. "They're packing QAAMs!" Amethyst shouted. "Bolt One almost got hit!"
"I could've told you that, Phantom!" Spitfire cried. "Now get him off me!"


Rhapsody spun her fighter around. She was almost reacting without consciousness when her reticule locked onto a Meteor.
She fired.
The missile launched, narrowly scraping the Terminator that was chasing Spitfire. It broke away, and the Major flipped her Agile Eagle onto its tail and throttled up, she and Amethyst now giving chase. When her own alarm buzzed for an enemy missile, the Wraith was called into the real world once more and she began an upward helix into the air. She turned as tight as the Tomcat could, praying she wasn't going to get a missile up her tail.
Yet another volley from the Meteor's cannon tore through the air around her canopy. She rolled and dove for the ground. "This one's only using the cannon!"
"Fox two!" Spitfire cried, then swore when it must've missed. "I caught sight of the nose! It's Six, the squadron leader! She's of the few true dogfighters in the world."
"Like you?" Rhapsody asked swiftly as she slammed her brakes, hoping to cause the enemy fighter to over shoot her.
"Like you," Spitfire corrected.
Rhapsody allowed a small smile at that, but lost it when she needed to return focus. The Terminator had indeed gone over her. Whether to give her a sporting chance, or made a mistake, she didn't care. She throttled up to give chase once more. "She's good, but only one of us is coming away from this!" Gaining on the Terminator, she squeezed off her cannon. They missed, but served to steer the Terminator away from the city. If there would be any kills, she didn't want them falling on the city. It had suffered enough damage.
Meteor Six suddenly performed a cobra, and once more the Wraith was the prey.


Amethyst's Hornet struggled but kept pace with the Meteor, her reticule trying to gain a lock. She was packing special air-to-air missiles to fire beyond visual range. Not at all effective at this range. "Banshee, how're you doing on your end?" she asked.
"Like shit, mate! He's persistent!"
"Hang on, I'll be right there!" Amethyst broke away from the Meteor. "Major, he's yours!"
"Roger!" The Agile Eagle kept pursuit while the young Crystal mare banked and scanned the skies for Sprig. She saw her, trailed close by the Meteor in question. She flipped the switch on her console and her HUD blared for a lock. Her special missile launched, forcing the Meteor to break and Amethyst gave chase. The Meteor rose up high, hoping to lose her in the clouds. Thankfully he didn't know about a new trick she had learned.
"Rhapsody says the clouds aid the just," she murmured. "Let's see if the crazy talk is true." She slowed herself down, beginning a sharp bank. She scanned the clouds, hoping the telltale sign of the Meteor's bright red underbelly would show. "Where are you?" Her console blared and she yelped, banking away. The missile blazed by, but the Meteor kept close by.


"Got you now, Pony," Meteor Eleven growled. The Hornet banked left and right, before it spun and turned sharply to the right, vanishing into thicker clouds. He gave chase, seeking another lock. But his lock reticule vanished from his HUD; the pony was right in front of him! They just were! He looked all around his airspace, unable to see any sign of the Hornet.
"The hell did you go?" he muttered. He broke through the clouds, but was unable to find the Hornet. "Anyone got eyes on the Hornet I was – "
"ELEVEN! ON YOUR TAIL!"
There was a sudden roar behind him. A torrent of bullets tore through the Terminator. He coughed and grunted, eyes bulging as he looked down, seeing horrible splotches of red all over his flight suit. He looked ahead, his HUD shattered, smoking and sparking, coated in red. Static broke his brother's voice, shouting his name. Slowly, his eyes closed, his last view being his own console covered in his own blood, red coating the picture on his console of a beautiful gryphon leaning over a motorcycle, winking at him.
"I'm sorry, Elsa," he murmured. "I broke my... prom..."


"I got one!" Meteor down!" Amethyst shouted gleefully, watching the flaming Meteor she had riddled with holes hurtle towards the ground to its doom.
"Phantom! BREAK RIGHT!" Mythic screamed.
Amethyst blanched and looked back. A Meteor had taken up her tail when she paused to look at her third Meteor go down. Her missile launch warning blared as she saw the familiar smoke trail heading her way. She yanked her stick to the left to get away, but the missile was already on her, and she knew it. She managed one last scream of fear before the QAAM slammed into the tail of her Hornet.


The hornet's rear blew, bursting into flames. "Phantom's hit! Phantom's hit!" Mythic screamed.
Rhapsody looked around for the crystal mare. "Anypony see a chute?" Rhapsody shouted.
"Negative!" Sprig cried. "No chute! No chute!"
Rhapsody's eyes widened in terror as she broke away from Meteor Six, abandoning her chase to look for Amethyst's Hornet. Just within the metropolitan area, she gave a wail of agony when she saw the fireball spinning towards the ground. Half the Hornet was gone, only the nose, cockpit, and part of the wings simply rotating in air as it hurtled towards oblivion. "Amethyst!" Rhapsody called in anguish. Her heart sank; their youngest member was gone, and right on their final – 
"Piece of shit!" Amethyst screamed. Rhapsody almost laughed at the voice, happy she was still alive and that the young mare never swore. "Finally! Bailing out!"
The Hornet's canopy blew away and Amethyst's pilot seat jolted into the air, a chute deploying not long after.
"Sky Gazer! We need a SAR bird on Phantom, now!" Rhapsody called out.
"Already on it!" Scootaloo confirmed. "We got one of theirs, they got one of ours. At least she's alright."
She banked at the right moment. Spitfire suddenly cried out, "Wraith! Behind you!"


Six growled when her cannon missed the Tomcat's tail. But at the same time, she was relieved. She wanted this fight to last a good long while. The Ghost banked and headed for the clouds. Six gave chase, waiting until she was in range for a gun kill.
"Don't die on me yet, Ghost," she murmured. "First good fight I've had in months. I want this fight to last for days."


Mythic hissed as he banked left and right, twisting his Typhoon to its limits as the Terminator followed behind like the predator it was. He ground his teeth and pushed downwards, rolling himself like a drill towards the ground. The Meteor followed just as he expected, not that there was any other way it could be. As soon as he got low enough, he yanked his stick back and leveled out. The nimble enemy did the same. Tracers whipped by his canopy as he rolled left and right trying to break him away. His missile warning kept blaring, causing him to growl in frustration as he started climbing again. "Damn thing won't shut up! Why can't this guy just f-" His warning blared once more.
"Shade! Break!"
"Left or right?!"
"YES!" Spitfire screamed.
Mythic shouted in anger and rolled, diving for the ground once more. The missile streaks by his tail with the Terminator still in pursuit. The Typhoon was shaking, straining under the constant twists and turns, and his fuel was getting low. "Damn it! I'm getting a little tired of being chased," he exclaimed vehemently. He pulled his Typhoon between two Skyscrapers and once again made a circle around, hoping to get behind the Terminator. Turning a little tighter, he then whipped himself around the second building, performing a solid figure eight.
He looked around for the red tail of the Su-37, but saw no sign. As if it had just vanished from sight. Mythic's wings itched badly and his hairs on his neck stood rigid while his skin paled. "Where the hell..?"


"Gotcha!"
The Terminator's cannon roared.


Mythic shouted in surprise as the din of cannon fire tore into his Typhoon. His console blared even as he turned away from it. Fuel leak, damaged turbine, intake rupture, and his right flaps torn away from the wing; the fighter was a mess. "Son of a bitch!" he shouted as he weaved as best he could through the remaining cannon fire. It suddenly jerked violently and he looked back. His right engine had caught fire. He frowned as he pitched to the left to avoid another volley; he wasn't getting out of this. "I can't keep it up, everypony!"
"Don't worry about that, Shade," Rhapsody called. "Just save yourself!"
"I'm taking this bastard with me though. Time to fight fire with fire." He suddenly grinned. "Get it? Fire with fire? My plane's on fire?"
"Shut up and bail out, mate!" Sprig shouted.
Mythic groaned and throttled up hard. However, this poured more fuel into his burning engine; any second and it would blow. He would need perfect timing with this; one second misplaced and he was a fireball. He took one last look back, and confirmed the Terminator was still chasing him. He waited until the enemy fighter had throttled up as well before he slammed the breaks and yanked his stick back hard, kicking in his remaining flaps.
The Typhoon lurched to a halt, standing straight up in the air. Within seconds, Mythic had reached between his knees and yanked the handle.


"A Typhoon pulling a Cobra?!" Ten cried, unbelieving of what he was seeing. A wounded fighter pulling the dangerous dogfighting move. The canopy suddenly blew off the airframe and the pilot shot out horizontal. Not only a Cobra, but ejecting during it? It was almost in slow motion as Ten turned his eyes upward to watch, and the AEGIS pilot had thrown up both his arms, his hands ending in one-fingered salutes.
"You jerk!"
"Ten look out!" Six called out.
Ten looked forward. He screamed and almost reflectively pulled the eject handle. His canopy barely blew in time, same with his seat. Ten was hurtled into the open air and the explosion of the collision nearly knocked him out from the shock wave. Once he had unstrapped himself and kicked away, he looked for the AEGIS pilot. It didn't take him long, and he flapped hard to chase.

"Ten's down!" Four shouted. She watched the combined wreckage of the AEGIS Typhoon and the Su-37 crumple together like paper and end as a fireball heading for the street below. "Who the hell are these ponies?!"
"They're Ghost Wing," Six answered sullenly. "The best AEGIS has."
Four hissed as she fired a pair of missiles, but the hornet she was chasing nimbly rolled and banked away. "It's about to be 'had'."


"Mythic!" Sprig screamed.
"I'm alright, featherhead! I'm gonna sit up here and watch the fight." The lone hippogriff looked back to see a familiar pair of grey wings carrying their owner up atop a skyscraper. She then spotted another pair of wings heading for him at an almost manic speed. The Gryphon was upon Mythic before she could warn him. "Banshee, right!"
Sprig growled as she yanked her stick that way, narrowly avoiding another missile. She craned her neck back, seeing the two fliers get into a fist fight in midair, then focused on her own Terminator. "C'mon beaky... Just a little closer."
The Terminator throttled up, trying to get Sprig in range for a gun kill. Doing this just as Sprig began to slow down, though keeping up her pace by maneuvering around buildings, diving, climbing, anything to keep out of the Meteor's sights. Sadly, this made her intended tactic that much more difficult to enact. Several tracers went over her canopy, causing her to gasp as she rolled, heading for the skies.


Spitfire banked hard right and almost stalled as she spun in a full circle to get behind the Terminator. It rolled and headed for the ground. As they blazed by a pair of skyscrapers, she caught sight of a familiar pair of grey wings flapping hard around a pair of brown. Mythic was still in a fist fight with the Meteor pilot who had ejected after him. "Hey, Shade, you make a new friend?"
"Shut up!" Spitfire chuckled as she let loose a missile which narrowly clipped the Terminator's tail. She suddenly heard a grunt and heard Mythic yelling. "Don't! Touch! My! Hair!"
On her next pass, she caught sight of Mythic hovering in midair with his helmet in his right hand, the Gryphon hurtling to the ground.


"Little more... little more!" Sprig jammed her hooves into her rudders and throttled back, barrel rolling in midair. The g-forces pressed against her, threatening to crush her chest. Her eyes watered from the sudden slowing and vertigo, but it served its purpose. The Terminator blazed right by her, and she squeezed her trigger. A torrent from the cannon erupted from the nose of her Hornet, sending tracers and lead into the fuselage.
The Terminator banked, but still got volley after volley of cannon rounds through its fuselage and wings. The fluids within then caught fire and it exploded. The enemy fighter became a fireball. "Haha! Take that you – " A chunk of the tail broke off, flying right for her. "Oh bullocks."
She banked to avoid, even knowing it was futile. The metal chunk tore off her right wing and a good portion of her fuselage. Twisting metal tore through Sprig's ears, and the Hornet lurched and spun violently. She shrieked as her body was slung around, held back only by her straps on her seat. She did manage to wrap her claws around the eject handle, however, and gave it a yank. But the canopy was delayed. It blew off, but Sprig was flung from the cockpit, her right wing slamming into the canopy.
"Ah shite! My wing!" she called out, screaming in pain.
Her left wing flapped uselessly, trying to slow her fall by itself. Her eyes watered more as the ground got closer. But within seconds, her vision began to go sideways after a heavy force struck her left side.
"Got ya, featherhead!"


Rhapsody and her adversary kept rolling through the clouds. The Wraith took a moment to see if Sprig was alright, and saw a familiar pair of grey wings carrying her up to the Sky Scraper he had been fighting in front of moments before leaping to the rescue. She allowed a knowing smirk before flipping her Tomcat on its side, then hitting her airbrakes and spinning. The enemy Terminator rolled, avoiding the collision, and Rhapsody fired a volley from her cannon. The Meteor pilot dodged expertly but Rhapsody kept pursuit. "Looks like it's just us Major!"
"Negative!" Spitfire countered. "Last Meteor got me. I can still fly, but I'm no good in the air!" Rhapsody panned her eyes over, spotting the wounded F-15S pulling away from the city, heading south, and a Meteor flaming and heading for the ground. The tail and wing of the Agile Eagle were smoking, but she was nursing it away from the battlefield. "It's your show now, Wraith."


"Gilda, may the battle be yours."
Six frowned as she watched her final fellow Meteor fall. The canopy blew and he managed to get away, though, before the fighter met its fate with the ground. "King's speed to you, Gen. You take care, you hear?" The young Gryphon flared his wings, giving her a wave, before banking towards the city center where the other Gryphon soldiers were being rounded up.
She glanced back, spying the final Ghost fighter following her. She leveled herself out, then moved her control stick left to right. "Let's see if she has true honor."


Rhapsody quirked her brow as she slowed down, watching the Terminator wave its wings. "What is she doing?"
"I can see it," Spitfire muttered. "Six is challenging you, Wraith; wants to look you in the eye."
Rhapsody exhaled into her mask, throttling up a little to the side of the Terminator. She had never seen one up close. It was almost majestic in curves, dynamics, the way the canards flexed and twisted every so often to level out the fighter. It was a single seat jet, the pinnacle of Gryphnia's fighter technology. The paint was pristine as well, as if repainted after every sortie, and a number of fighters, tanks, and even a couple of ships decorated the nose. A deep red was painted on the belly, as well as on the upper tips of the wings and outer tips of the tail. Right behind the decals was the number 0-0-6. The Su-37 Terminator, flagship fighter of Meteor Squadron.
It was beautiful.
Rhapsody matched speed with the Gryphon, then lifted her helmet's visor and looked to her right. Beside, the Gryphon pilot did the same, giving her a little wave. Rhapsody returned it, then frowned behind her mask when the Gryphon lifted a claw and made a series of circles in the air. She blinked and reported back to Spitfire what she had seen.
"Wow..." the Major replied simply. "Rhapsody... are you familiar with the 'Dance of Death'?"
The sea green mare's shoulders almost slumped. "I am."
The Dance of Death. A traditional duel between winged beings. Pegasi, Gryphons, Hippogriffs, all the way to the ancient Corvians, the raven people of the North, across the ocean. The combatants circled each other, sizing up their opponent, then pulled into the circle, charging directly at each other with weapons drawn. It carried on into other battles, even with aircraft. Rhapsody never believed she'd be challenged to one though.
Still, she gave the Gryphon a nod with a thumb up. The other pilot nodded and began to pull away. "I've accepted," Wraith murmured.
"You truly are a warrior. Mother Mare's speed, Wraith," Spitfire commented. "Sky Gazer, send out the order. I don't want anypony interfering with this. Understand?"


"I can put a stinger right into that Meteor!" A crystal pony cried out.
"Negative!" a mare cried out into the radio. "Our fight is over."


Applejack waved at Babs as the humvee ambulance blazed off towards the makeshift hospital. Turning up to the sky, she started watching the two fighters circled each other above the city.
"Our fight is over, our war is done," she heard Spitfire call out on the radio inside her tank.


Commissar Onyx Karat lay with his right arm across his lap on the turret of a Crystal Empire Laclerc tank. Beside him, a crystal mare was giving him a tonic to knock him out while they prepared to amputate what was remaining of the left."This battle has nothing to do with us," Spitfire continued. "Gryphnia knows this battle is lost for them. But now it's a fight for honor..." Onyx gave the crystal mare a toast before downing the bottle.


Marcus looked out the shattered throne room window, seeing the two fighters begin to circle each other over the city that would take months to years to repair. "This is the final test of who's better in the skies." The SWS Captain joined him, offering a cigar. Slowly, the Prince accepted and they puffed together.


Pinkie Pie and Rarity lowered their binoculars as they watched from afar, Spitfire continuing on the radio waves. "No matter the outcome, the war is over. But their war hasn't. This fight is theirs and theirs alone. Nopony is to get involved..."


Amethyst slapped the door of the Humvee that had dropped her off at the nearby field hospital where a number of AEGIS, and even Gryphon troops, were being tended to. "These two are the best both of our sides have to offer. A battle between aces," she heard the Major say over a radio nearby. She sat down with a pair of ponies, flanked by a single Gryphon who was being heavily guarded.


Mythic and Sprig looked off in the distance, seeing their flight lead and Gryphnia's top ace circling each other, listening to Spitfire's speech through the the radio in their helmets. "This is a battle between aces. Our best versus their best. Nopony gets involved... let them fight. This duel will decide who is better; who is the top ace. Let them fight."
Sprig huffed and rubbed her right wing, which was twisted at a bad angle, but the worst of the pain had passed. She blinked at Mythic as he sat beside her, flopping down on his rear and folding his wings. He had a few bruises on his torso, exposed when he pulled his flight suit down to get some air and cool down from the fight. "Until their done fighting," the Hippogriff female began, "they're not sending a rescue."
"Eyup," was Mythic's only response.
"No rescue for a while."
"Eyup," the stallion replied again.
Sprig clicked her beak, adding, "Could be at least an hour."
Mythic simply nodded. "Eyup."
Sprig tilted her head suddenly, her gold eyes turning to Mythic. The grey-coated stallion looked back at her, ocean blue staring into gold. "You wanna?" she asked nonchalantly.
Mythic simply nodded at her. "Eyup." He barely finished the sentence before Sprig pounced.


Rhapsody looked out her canopy, staring at the Terminator circling her, much as she was circling it. Finally, she banked out of the circle, turned, and throttled up. The Terminator performed the same, and now the two were barreling towards each other. Rhapsody pulled her trigger and her cannon shredded the air, barely even touching the Gryphon fighter, she could see the tracers coming from the enemy. Turning on her right side, the Terminator blazed right by. "Never thought I'd be in one of these fights," she commented to herself. She flipped her Tomcat around, and saw the Terminator had done the same thing. 
Both fighters once again went full throttle, guns blazing, as they hurtled through the air at each other. Rhapsody grit her teeth as she rolled through the enemy fire. She had to be careful, much like her adversary had to be. One false move while you're flying at each other, and you either get a volley of cannon fire into you, or you risk colliding with them. Rhapsody saw this as a joust, but neither she nor Meteor Six could get the other to make that false move. Each time they passed, their fire never seemed to get closer.


Six growled as she turned her fighter around, gazing at the Tomcat just beyond her gun range. The Wraith was making a bulky interceptor fighter fly like it was a bee, and it seemed to sting like one, too. The pilot was truly an ace.
"One of us has to slip up eventually, Wraith. Only one of us is going home."
She banked back towards the Tomcat, throttling up, and pulling the trigger.


Rhapsody's turbines roared as she pushed her throttle to the maximum and squeezed her trigger. Her cannon roared louder than the fighter as she kept rolling to avoid the incoming fire. The Terminator barrel-rolled towards her, and Rhapsody grunted as she flipped onto her left side, scraping by her opponent.
Suddenly her alarm began blaring. She looked down, seeing a missile lock. She shrieked and pulled up, but then saw it was coming straight for her from the front. She couldn't dodge it; it was coming too fast – !
She blinked when a fighter swung right in front of her, deploying its flares. The missile spun out of control, then exploded far above Rhapsody's canopy. She blinked to see her rescuer... It was the Meteor?


"Who the hell fired that?!" Six shrieked." This is a fight between the Wraith and me! NO ONE ELSE!"
"Captain I can take her out right now!" a soldier screamed from the ground.
"No one interferes! No one gets involved!" Six ripped the cords out of her fighter's console, tearing her radio apart. She saw the Tomcat flying in a straight line, and as she throttled up beside it, she saw the pilot was breathing hard. When they two locked eyes, Six held up her thumb, silently asking if she was alright. The pony nodded and held up her own. Six then made the circle with her talon again, to which the pony nodded and pulled away. "No one but us, Wraith. We decide this alone." Six pulled back into the circle.


Rhapsody watched the fighter pull away, regaining position. She did the same, and once again, Tomcat and Terminator circled above the skies.


"Twenty bits on the Meteor," a Gryphon shouted. His fellows around him in the holding area cheered him on. He then looked towards a Saddle Arabian tank that had its barrel aimed towards the crowd of captured Gryphnian soldiers. "Which one of you wants that bet?"
"Thirty bits on Wraith," a mare with a heavy accent called out. He spun, seeing an orange earth pony striding confidently towards him. She was wearing a cowpony hat as she stood right in front of the Gryphon. "I'll take that bet." She spat in her hand and held it out. The Gryphon looked at her hand, then did the same and clasped hers in his claws.
"Deal. Who else wants in?"
Wagers began to flood in.


Rhapsody yelped as a few bullets struck her fuselage. She looked back, seeing smoke pooling behind her fighter. "Left turbine out. Just my luck," she hissed as she shut it down, pouring her remaining power into her right. She was now handicapped in power with a wounded fighter. She scanned the skies for the Terminator. She gave a tiny smirk when she saw that, on what must've been their fifth pass at each other over Fyrick, the Meteor had taken similar damage.
This pilot was good. Six was very good. She, had to be with this graceful a flying style, was the most invigorating pilot she had ever flown against. It was almost to the point where Rhapsody could hold her head high even in defeat. She was going hoof to hoof – or rather hoof to paw – with Gryphnia's top ace pilot. She had the honor of facing this ace in a one-on-one fight. Proud if she won, humbled if she lost. This was truly a duel for the ages.
She leveled out her banking, matching the Terminator's movements. Once more, she looked out, staring at her opponents canopy.


Six shut down her right engine, pouring her power into the left. Exhaling deeply, she eyed the enemy fighter one more time. She circled her rival, her fellow ace, the only fighter on the AEGIS side that could possibly match her skills and prestige. This Tomcat; while the fighter was outdated, the pilot clearly was not. She had experience, she had prowess, she had honor and courage. A true warrior. An ace.
The sun was setting on Fyrick, and finally the war itself. The clouds had parted, leaving a bright, wide open sky for their duel. Below, Gryphnian soldiers were being rounded up, being taken prisoner as the city was put under AEGIS control. She could live with that, if she survived this. A fight of this magnitude, this caliber, above her city on the final day of the war, there were no certainties for her. But the only one she could possibly call such was that only one of them was going to fly away from this fight. Six wasn't sure it'd be her, but she wouldn't have minded that either.
"One more time, Wraith," Six murmured to herself. She yanked her stick, pulling inwards to the circle. "One. More. Time!"


Rhapsody pulled into the circle, shoving her throttle forward, her single turbine roaring. She lined up her reticule with the Terminator, her finger on her trigger. "One more time, girl!" she called to her Tomcat, banging her fist on the console. "One more pass! Let's show her what we can do!"
The Tomcat gave a furious howl as the Wraith charged. She pulled her trigger, sending streams of burning lead through the air. She was met at the gates by a thick volley from the Terminator. She didn't roll this time, she faced the Meteor head on. As she observed, her adversary was doing the same. No rolls, no dodging; just a straight charge towards your foe with nothing between them but open sky, the roar of cannons, and the blistering rounds tearing through each other.
Rhapsody held her finger on the trigger. She could imagine the barrels of her cannon getting white hot by now. But she didn't relent. Not when she saw tracers shooting by her canopy. Not even when she saw sparks shooting by on the armor of her fighter. Not even when she saw red decorate her console.
"Come on!" she screamed. "COME ON!"


Six roared as she gripped her control stick tight, watching her cannon rip into the fuselage of the Tomcat. She felt the rounds from the enemy tearing into the fighter, but she kept her furious war cry resounding in her cockpit. She heard several thumps inside her flight suit, but her gaze never wavered from her quarry. Sparks shot across her canopy, and she could see several sparks shooting around her inside the fighter. But she kept her speed.


Rhapsody yelped as she banked away from the Terminator's path. Alarms went off all around her. She shook her head, wincing hard as she looked down at her left arm, blood trickled from her sleeve, but it didn't look too bad, but it felt like she'd had feathers torn from her wing which was also bloodied. She looked back to see the damage; and blanched. Thick plumes of black smoke were coming out of her left and right side. She was losing fuel and pressure in her gauges. The Tomcat was in bad shape. But she actually found herself scanning the skies, looking to find the Terminator.
She found it... and it was worse.


Six panted heavily, looking across her console. Red decorated the buttons, and not all of it was from the lights. She looked down at herself, her chest rose and fell shallowly, several holes dotting her dark grey flight suit. She slowly reached up, unclipping her oxygen mask. Her breathing was still labored, and her vision began to swim. She was hit... badly. This was a mortal wound from a mortal enemy. But she gave a smile; this was a good a death.
The Wraith had gotten her. Not with a stray missile, or a lucky shot, or a misdirection from Six herself. This was pure and simple skill and dexterity. There was no interference, just the two of them and their skills to rely on. The Terminator still screeched at her, alarms going off to tell her what was wrong, but she paid them no mind. It was not as if she would be able to fix them in the air. The rule of the Dance of Death; Only one must survive. She had been beaten, and it was a good death.
Though Six's ears were ringing and her hearing was slowly receding, she could make out a jet noise different from her own. Looking to her left, she saw the Tomcat flown by the Wraith. The pony pulled up beside her, making sure to match speed with the dying fighter. Six watched the pony as she removed her oxygen mask, still able to keep a damaged Tomcat level with her. Her watering gold eyes met the rose of the pegasus mare, and a smile tug at her beak.
The mare pulled her right hand to her forehead, fingers outstretched. She was saluting her adversary. Noble. Six smiled fully at the Wraith, returning the salute. With a sigh, Six felt her body failing, and she decided enough was enough. She had been a combat pilot for years, constantly looking for that one final opponent who could take her down. And here she was, a warrior of the clouds, flying beside her.


Rhapsody watched as Six looked away from her, the Gryphon's eyes beginning to close. But as she watched, Six began tapping on her console, then gripped her control stick. Before she knew it, the Terminator's engines roared its lament, rocketing the fighter into the sky. The clouds, Rhapsody observed, began to close in around the fighter, just as the engines caught fire. The damage the plane had suffered and suddenly the addition of jet fuel into the blaze within. Rhapsody frowned, knowing the inevitable was coming. Still, she watched the fighter go high into the sky, until she passed through the cloud cover, being embraced by the birthright of all winged beings of the world, and disappeared from sight.
A bright orange flash was all that marked the final passing.
Yet Rhapsody felt no remorse, no shame. She had fought Gryphnia's toughest pilot, and emerged victorious. And she died well, that much she knew. She had heard stories of Meteor Six, and somewhere in her gut, Rhapsody knew this was a good fight, a good death. She wasn't poignant; she was proud that she had faced such an adversary.
Now, she just needed to limp herself home. "Wraith, returning to –"
The Tomcat violently shook. The entire airframe was overtaken by tremors while smoke filled the cockpit. Rhapsody's vision blurred as she looked all around her. "The hell just happened? Am I hit?"
"Captain!" Scootaloo from Sky Gazer shouted. "Your plane's burning! The back end is on fire!"
Rhapsody lifted herself up in her seat, rose eyes widening. The tail of her plane was an inferno, black smoke clouding out behind her. "I need to dive and put – " A loud crash made her look to her right. Her flaps were peeling off, and she could see the bullet holes in her wing. The Tomcat then jerked to the right, hard.
"You just lost your starboard vertical stabilizer! She's breaking apart!"
Rhapsody shook her head. "I can land it! Call the HMS Faerie Flight – "
"Wraith do you not get it? Did you not hear Sky Gazer?" Spitfire screamed. "Your plane is breaking apart! If you don't get out of there, you're going to die!"
The mare's heart skipped a beat. "But... I've flown – "
"You've flown that plane your entire career, I know," Spitfire called, tenderly. "You had a good run in that plane, we all know that. But you can't save it. If you don't eject, you're going to be killed. Do not let your pride take your life!"
The Tomcat continued screeching its alarms at her, lights flashed, and sparks began flying. So, her Tomcat, her plane, her partner, was dying. Rhapsody huffed, looking one last time at the cockpit. Finally, she patted the console. "Sorry girl," she murmured. "I'll remember you." Exhaling once more, Rhapsody flexed her body and grabbed the handle. "Wraith, bailing out!"
She heard Spitfire call out again. "Get a SAR bird out there, now!"
Just like training, she yanked the handle up. The canopy blew off the top and Rhapsody's chair rocketed into the air. Her eyes sealed shut before the chair reached its appropriate altitude. Then, typical of winged pilots, Rhapsody undid the straps of her seat and flared her sea green wings and began to flap. The chair's parachute deployed, but she let it fall; souvenir for some Gryphnian museum or some kids who wanted a new lounge chair.
Her eyes were focused on the burning hulk of a plane heading for the bay.
This was the first time she had ever seen her plane flying, and she was not in it. Granted it was falling, but she saw it was majestic in a dark way. It was hurtling towards its doom, but she took comfort it wouldn't land on anypony, or any gryphon for that matter. Like its own sacrifice, it made sure to let its pilot get safely away before the final stroke fell. The final battle of its life had been the most memorable, and now it was going for its final rest.
The Tomcat exploded.
The fuel ignited and the Tomcat became a fireball, but mercifully for only a few seconds before crashing into the water. A brilliant splash and spray of water marked the final resting place of her beloved Tomcat. Rhapsody felt her eyes watering as she could only stare at the spot it fell. Sighing, she pulled off her helmet, letting the breeze catch her mane, and looked back toward Fyrick. AEGIS fighters were circling and making patrols and attack helicopters did the same at lower altitudes. She could see Gryphon soldiers marching towards holding areas while the Fyrick police kept rioters in line. There was more than one squad of police assisting the AEGIS ground forces in corralling the more zealous citizens.
Smokes and plumes of fire rose throughout the city. Several bridges had been destroyed, and from what she could see, helicopters with red crosses were landing at various parts of the city. She also spotted Gryphon fighters landing at the airfields that were still intact. Beyond, she could see Sky Gazer circling a little lower to the city. Further to her right, the fleet was moving closer to the shores and more landing crafts were on their way to the beaches to drop of reinforcements and supplies.
From what she could see, the war was over.
The breeze once again caressed her mane and tail, whipping it around as Rhapsody kept flapping her wings and staring at the sunset sky. She closed her eyes, letting the winds tell her it was finally over. Nothing more to do today, no more enemies to kill for now; she took much solace in that. No more bases to defend, no more sorties to be flown, and at long last, no more lives to be taken. With a final wave and salute to her lost Tomcat's final resting place, she let herself drop down into city, letting her wings glide her over the cityscape, looking for the temporary command center.


"All Gryphnian troops! Cease fighting and surrender at the following; The City Park Tennis Courts, the National Library fountain courtyard..."
The speaker towers in the city, those that still worked, resounded through the city. Several humvees were rolling along the streets, broadcasting the same message. In droves, Gryphon soldiers were holding up their wings and claws. Civilians were being corralled by local police aided by AEGIS forces. The ICG was pushed into their designated holding areas.


"Get away!" she brandished the pistol again, clutching her daughter close. "You killed my husband!"
The pony soldier kept his rifle aimed forward. Six other soldiers stood at his sides, aiming into the smoking Osprey. "Ma'am! We're not here to harm you!"
"GET BACK!" She pulled the trigger... but the gun didn't fire. She tried again and again, but nothing happened. The soldiers took the opportunity, charging the Osprey and disarming the gryphon woman. The daughter was ushered out of the ruined aircraft as well, and both were taken into one of the nearby hangars to be held in custody until the city had gotten more quiet.
"Hey Shake! We got a Gryphon here with really big insignias. Someone call this in, yeah?"


Meteor Six's body vanished into the skies above, destined to never return to the world below. Where she vanished, there was almost no trace of her. As if she had flown up into the clouds and they embraced her. Part of me wondered if she was still flying through the clouds, but I wasn't that naive. She was gone, and wasn't coming back. Yet somehow, a single baseball landed in front of me and the barkeep's daughter.
It was dirty, but smelled faintly of the preserving agent that Seven and Eight used on their baseballs to keep them shining and new looking. I flipped it over, finding their names on it. It was the ball they had signed and given to me while teaching me to play. I felt awful having thought I left it behind when I followed the squadron all the way here. Six had kept it safe, it seemed, and this was her final thought to share with me.
The barkeep's daughter and I had followed the squadron all the way to Fyrick, and we had mixed thoughts as we buried the ball where it landed. It no longer mattered to either of us if it was Six, Seven, or Eight's grave, the memories of those three melded in time and blurred into one whole. And just as swiftly as they did, they disappeared from the world like a dream.
Gryphnia signed the terms of surrender the same day. Apparently Seven and Eight had a younger brother, also a Prince, and he had taken the throne in the death of their father. He had announced in a broadcast to the entire city, and to the forces abroad that could not get back home, to stop fighting. It was naturally met with resistance, but as the allied forces took over Fyrick, the message was clear. Prince Marcus had taken over Gryphnia, and with his signature, the war was finally over after over a year of death.
The barkeep's daughter clutched my hand as we went through the streets. Large armored vehicles that did not belong to Gryphons rolled along the streets, pony soldiers like us were directing traffic and civilians. Troops from the allied forces were caring for the wounded, and gathering the dead for burial, and even assisting local construction companies with the clean-up. The filly holding my hand suddenly tugged me arm for my attention, and gestured across the street. 
My first smile in days came to me as we held hands, crossing the street to the donut shop.