Duskfall

by Celestial Swordsman

Universal Soldier

Chapter 28

Applejack still stood aloof from the others, marching impatiently at the head of the column as if to pull the others along. She didn’t want to talk to her friends, mostly because she knew they were right. She would have shot Celestia had they not intervened. The real problem was that they might expect her to be sorry about it.

In truth, she was proud to be the kind of pony that she would be carried away by her convictions; far better that than passivity. She wasn’t one to allow the innocent to be unprotected or the bad guy unpunished.

When Rarity and Fluttershy had not joined the good fight, she had dismissed them as passive and indifferent, but now she realized that was not fair to them. Having been in the wars, she knew the real horror of equicide that defied political justification. Of course it was justified; the cruel and deceptive goddess Celestia could not be allowed to rule Equestria unchallenged.

In any case, Applejack knew, it was good that she didn’t kill the little impostor. She was still faced with the hopeless dilemma that plagued the New Lunar Republic. While the Empress lived, she would not allow them peace; if she died, they would see no sun. She had almost cemented the impending period of darkness, famine, and cold apocalypse.

Most unsettling, she thought, was the fact that their arch enemy had come into their power willingly. Could it be a trick to get at Luna? Not likely. The great and powerful Celestia would not degrade herself to such a state on purpose. The Solar forces seemed to be out of her control, and would they not be more victorious with their alicorn champion to lead them? So of all things, Celestia had come to them for help, and they would be compelled to give it to her.

It was just so wrong…

“Applejack!” Pinkie Pie yelled as she galloped to catch up.

Applejack had already been accosted by her enthusiastic comrade. Once it was to convince her to go talk to the others, and once to tell her a joke. It was a really awful time to tell a joke, but it was damn hilarious.

“What is it this time?” she asked, unsurprised to find wide eyes in her face.

“Tail twitch twitch, ears flap!” Pinkie Pie blurted with alarm.

“You mean falling, and—“ Applejack quickly attempted to grasp the message.

“EXPLODING!” cried the alarm pony. There was a sound like a distant thunderstorm.

Major Applejack called, “GET DOWN!” and dove to take cover beside the path. The Rough Riders immediately did the same, leading the uninitiated to follow their example a couple seconds late.

An explosion shredded the forest by the path where they would have been. Two more impacts sounded nearby to the south. The soldiers hunkered, wondering whether they should react and how. Hearing the destruction continue to move away, Applejack stood and barked, “Some pony get a look over these trees! We need to see what’s going on.”

One of their company dropped his gear and clambered into the lower branches of a tree. “I see a ship,” he reported. “Lunar, and heading south by southwest.”

“Shit, we’re being shelled by our own fleet?” someone responded in consternation.

Applejack ran to the spotter and said, “I don’t think they’re shooting at us. Do you see anything else?”

“No, the canopy’s too—wait, I see another light!” he exclaimed. “There is a second ship, I think it’s in direct pursuit.”

“Big Mac, follow me with that rocket launcher,” Applejack said gesturing urgently down the path. “If we hurry we can cut ‘em off.”

“Wait, major, what are you gonna do with one rocket launcher?” someone objected.

“Who cares? That ship needs help,” she snapped, and galloped away with her big brother in arms. Looking up, she saw the first vessel crossing over the path and leaving a trail of smoke. The dark shape glided by, like a whale swimming through the sky. It was rapidly changing altitude and bearing to thwart the aim of the pursuing ship’s guns.

They raced ahead; if they could reach the spot where the Lunar destroyer had crossed, the hostile ship would probably pass over them. They came to a place where the canopy was thinner and Applejack looked about, unsure of her estimation.

“What took you so long?” a voice questioned from beside the path. The Apples blinked in surprise at another missile team. “You’re in the right place, now set up fast,” an officer exhorted. Big Mac unslung the launcher and his sister fed a rocket into the cylinder.

They waited. A hum slowly rose as the blasts from the muzzles of the guns became louder than the detonating shells. The prow jutted out from the trees, black against the gray sky. The full form of the hull slid into view. The emblem of the blazing sun gleamed triumphantly on its side as it surged forth to claim its prey. The engines also glowed on its ventral surface, showing clear targets to the fighters below.

“Wait, wait,” the officer restrained Big Mac.

A red flare from somewhere in the forest bounced impotently off the steel hull. “Now!” he barked. Big Mac took careful aim at the closest engine; he and the other soldier let their missiles loose. The projectiles kicked out of the launchers with a distinctive thud. As they flew up, they joined a hail of weaponry rising from the wilderness. The Solar destroyer had been lured into the trap of the regrouped NLR Army.

The thick hull was impervious, but warheads entered two of the six engine shafts, stalling the craft in the line of fire. The captain reacted quickly, directing his crew to list violently to the side to escape. Machine gun positions on board came to life, desperately raking the dark foliage. The ship dropped some of its bombs like a startled creature; the ordinance fell haphazardly and killed few.

The Lunar army reloaded quickly, and a fresh volley bit into the behemoth before it could pull away. Tons of metal found itself suddenly unsupported in the air, and plummeted earthward. The remaining engines pushed to full power to slow the descent, but it was not enough and the craft slammed violently into the jungle. The ship crashed across the trail between the army and the Rough Riders. Its front sections were crumpled, and the gases in the aft sections burned furiously. Lunar troops cheered, and rushed to surround the hulk.

Doctor Sparkle and particularly Captain Dash were downcast at the ambush of their countrymen. The Rough Riders whooped and hollered around them. Rainbow Dash leaned in to Twilight and whispered, “You know what’s about to happen. We have to do something.”

“I don’t think they’ll let us go, we’re still prisoners,” the unicorn cautioned.

Dash checked the wind with her tail and responded, “We’ll have an opening, but I’ll need my wings and you’ll need your horn.”

“Rarity!” Twilight yelled over the shouts of the troops. The fashionable unicorn started to move towards them before they were all hit with an obscuring onrush of dust and smoke from the crash. In the dark forest, smoke reduced visibility to near zero.

Somepony approached the Solar guests. “Let us loose and we can save a lot of lives,” Rainbow Dash requested to the figure she hoped was Rarity. Their bonds could be removed much faster by magic than by hoof.

“I don’t know which side you’re on,” Rarity objected, afraid of what her friends might do.
Celestia appeared from the haze; risking the use of her magic, she untied Rainbow Dash and uncapped Twilight in a moment. “Go!” she urged.

Rainbow Dash picked up the rope in her teeth and the two rushed in the direction of the wreck, trying to avoid recognition by the soldiers they bumped into. Dash ran across Pinkie Pie, and thinking quickly, swiped the blue ribbon that showed her Lunar allegiance. The surprised earth pony called after the thief, “Hey, gimme that!” and chased after her. Twilight pushed the smoke around them, allowing her glowing horn to guide them down the path. The three of them galloped together until they encountered a metal mass.

The ship was rolled onto its starboard side, blocking most of the escape hatches near the three rescuers. “They need you on the other side,” Dash guessed, speaking to Twilight. As the magician left the smoke closed around the others.

“What are you doing?!” Pinkie Pie demanded.

“You’re keeping me alive,” Captain Dash insisted, thrusting one end of the rope towards her.

“Hold this.” The pegasus beat her wings and disappeared upwards.

Pinkie Pie was left standing by the big wreck, confused and blinded. Then there was a firm pull on the rope from somewhere above, and a voice, “Climb aboard!”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this!” Pinkie warned.

“That’s why I need you,” Dash answered. “Morsa muffins, right?”

Pinkie Pie repeated the phrase and quickly shimmied up the rope to wherever it would lead. She finally cleared the smoke and found Dash helping her over the railing onto the top deck of the defunct airship. She could feel the heat of the flames that engulfed one end of the ship. The pegasus tugged her up the steep, slick slope to a hatch that led into the burning structure.

They entered a slanted world, lit with dim red emergency lights. They walked upright on the corner of the floor and walls. “I’ve got to get to the bridge,” Dash informed. A hallway on their left was a hazardous pit. They leapt the gap and continued. Desperate crewponies swung down into the hallway ahead of them. Dash instructed, “There’s a rope off the rail, middeck,” as they shoved past. They jumped another side hall and climbed over a bloody pony that had been killed in the impact.

Repeated, frantic clangs came from a sealed hatch on the wall under them. Dash tried to turn the handle, but the blood made her hooves slip. She got a better grip and Pinkie Pie joined in, and together they forced the stubborn hatch open. They hoisted up two Solar sailors, one injured. “There’s a rope off the rail, middeck.”

As they entered the next section, the hall ended in a T. It seemed easier to navigate downwards into the corridor to the left, and Dash was about to proceed when Pinkie caught her and alerted, “Bad, very bad!”

“You’ll have to climb then,” Dash concluded and flew up and to the right. Pinkie Pie used pipes to clamber up part of the way before she ran out of hoofholds. The rainbow warrior assisted her up to the next doorway, where they descended a set of stairs, which provided the closest thing to level ground.

They finally entered the command, where part of the ceiling was collapsed. Aside from two bodies that lay motionless, the bridge crew had evacuated. Dash began to search about before she was interrupted by a heavy groan from under some of the debris. The two rescuers pried a heavy steel girder off of a gentlecolt who turned out to be the captain of the ship.

His bloody bearded face showed not relief but anger; he rose to his feet and fumed, “Where are my officers? Did I say to abandon ship? Damn clopspitting cowards!” He stumbled to the intercom and barked, “Damage control, stop that fire! Gunners, fire at will! Marines to the hatches! Damage control, copy?” He waited, but received no reply; the system was dead. “Damn it!” he cursed, slamming the receiver.

Pinkie Pie propped up one of the bodies and pronounced, “This one’s alive.”

The crewpony had a broken leg, and fighting through a concussion, gasped, “Vents! Did we vent the gases in the main chamber?”

Dash thought she would recognize the event, and replied, “I don’t think so.”

The captain of the airship ordered Pinkie Pie and the wounded officer, “Open the tanks, then we’ll stand as good a chance as not of stopping that fire.” The Lunar engineer was entirely skeptical of commands from enemy officers, and turned to Dash for confirmation. Dash nodded, and Pinkie took her charge by the shoulder and helped him out of the room towards the auxiliary buoyancy controls.

“Soldier,” the captain addressed the Solar Scout, and exhorted, “Rally as much of the crew as you can back to their battle stations and defend the hatches. We’re not flying but we’re still a fortress!”

Dash objected, “It’s not a fortress, it’s a funeral pyre.”

“My goddess!” the zealous officer exclaimed indignantly. “Do you have no faith in Celestia’s protection?”

“I am Celestia’s protection,” Rainbow Dash thought to herself very literally, and lied, “I have to recover secret intelligence information.”

The captain considered the statement, and concluded, “Very well, I’ll fight those soulless nightsiders myself!” He stormed out of the room to find a means of vengeance.

Dash continued her search for her real objective. She located the proper panel under one of the consoles and pried it loose to reveal a collision-resistant metal box bolted onto the internal structure. There was an emergency wrench on the side of the compartment. She took it and set about freeing the encased instrument.

She heard a bursting sound and a great rushing hiss, and knew her friend had succeeded. As she worked on the last bolt, Pinkie Pie reappeared with the limping Solar sailor. “Got it,” Dash said, finally extricating the black case. “Let’s get out of here.”

Just then a distressed yell echoed from somewhere on the starboard side—away from any exit. She put down her precious cargo and was about to seek out the stranded soul, but Pinkie Pie began to shiver and sneeze. The extrasensory pony spewed, “Fire, FIRE! Melting flesh!”

“Sorry comrade,” Dash muttered as she picked up the heavy instrument and moved for the exit.

Applejack and Big Macintosh followed the Lunar Army troops to the crash site. The soldiers cautiously took cover and trained small arms on every exit from the vessel. After a tense moment’s wait, the lower port hatches flung open. Figures of ponies poured out of the black holes into the haze, rushing towards the waiting guns with clamor and shouts. “Halt, don’t come any closer,” a soldier threatened, lining up on the closest shapes and preparing to defend himself.

A Solar marine, clutching his rifle, stumbled out of the hatch and away from the wreck; suddenly confronted with enemies, he fired a shot. Four of the surrounding troops let loose a reply at the muzzle flash, dropping the marine. Sensing they were under attack, some sailors drew pistols and one began firing haphazardly in an attempt to stave off the assault. A company of troops reacted, spewing lead into the hostile mass to suppress all resistance. There were five, ten seconds of solid gunfire. Applejack winced at the palpable overkill as those with larger clips and tighter nerves continued to fire shot after shot at any hint of movement.

The shooting had hardly started in earnest when something else began to happen. The haze took on a pinkish tint, and Applejack stared in disbelief as bullets began to bounce out of it. A fresh gust of wind blew the port side clear and revealed Twilight, standing in the midst of the crew, protecting them with her magic. The frightened, battered ponies fleeing the downed craft were very different from the banzai charge of fanatical sun worshipers that some imagined to be coming at them.

“Stop shooting!” Twilight pleaded at the top of her lungs, “We surrender!”

Perceiving a disadvantage in the face of a powerful Solar magician, an officer ordered a bazooka to the scene, but Applejack intercepted the colt who carried it and prevented him from bringing it to bear.

“I’m going to drop this spell now, so for Equestria’s sake don’t shoot!” Twilight called out. She dropped the barrier and turned her energy to assisting the wounded up the slanted floor and down out of the hull.

Applejack stepped out of the firing line towards her enemy friend, sputtering, “What in the blue blazes?”

“Would it kill you to let these ponies get farther away from this big bomb?” Twilight griped urgently.

Applejack and Big Mac each escorted a naval pony back through the Lunar line, and others followed their example. It looked as if the evacuation might continue smoothly.

Suddenly a face popped out of a point-defense position halfway up the hull; it oozed red hatred across its beard and shouted fiery wrath. The captain of the ship took hold of a large-caliber machine gun and swung it around to face his foes. “Death to nightsiders and deserters!” he cried as he pointed it into the intermingled troops and crew and squeezed the firing handles.

Those below took cover, and the last stragglers were compelled to remain in the ship for shelter. Riflemen fired up at everyone’s antagonist. He was hit, but continued firing; his weapon jerked up wildly as he struggled to stand until the last.

Under some fresh impulse, ponies jumped out of the hatch into danger. Finally Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie emerged, and Dash shouted, “It’s gonna blow!”

A massive secondary explosion burst out of the hull under the captain, who was swallowed by fire and twisted metal. Pinkie Pie shoved Twilight to one side and pulled Dash in close just before a huge piece of steel plating fell over them. Flaming debris rained across the scene.

Applejack raced through the resulting wreckage, heedless of the fire. “Where did you all come from?! Don’t you be dead, don’tcha even do that to me!” she cried as she threw her weight against the steel that crushed them. It wouldn’t budge, and she slumped against it despondently. The fire was closing in as the ship bled burning oil out of its new wound. She coughed and the heat rose, but she would not leave them. Big Macintosh rushed to her side, but he could not move the rubble either.

Then above the shouts and the roar of the fire came a deep, reverberating voice that seemed to surround them. “Good work, my brave soldiers,” the presence uttered. It was steady and cool, and exhorted, “As long as we have strength, we will fight. And we are still strong.”

Flanked by her continuous escort of magicians, Luna strode through her army towards the wreck. She walked the length of the airship with a surge of magic passing before her. She banished the flames from her presence. At her approach, the debris lifted and obediently gathered itself in piles behind her.

“Medics, tend to their wounded once ours are stable,” she ordered. The way clear, Lunar troops again approached the hulk and aided those caught in the second blast.

The approach of the war Princess uncovered Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie had used her uncanny sense to position them where they would be mostly unhurt by the falling mass. She coughed singed confetti and squeaked lamely, “Ta-daa!”

“You three scared the damn bejeebies outa me!” Applejack exclaimed, relieved. “What on earth are you doing here?” she asked Pinkie Pie.

“We did good, didn’t we?” the pink one replied with a sheepish smile.

“Yeah, you’re a hero,” the major congratulated. “Apparently you’re also a Solar.”

Luna drew near, and started to greet them, “Applejack, Pinkie Pie! I am glad that you made it—“ she froze at the sight of Doctor Sparkle and Captain Dash. She had planned the ambush, but could not contain her surprise at meeting these two. Her guards recognized the high-level threats and bristled defensively.

“It’s alright, they’re with me,” Applejack informed.

“Really?” Luna asked, surprised once again.

“I’m glad you made it, ma’am,” Applejack said, noting her leader’s bandaged wing. The Princess glimpsed at her side, stretching out her healthy wing and giving a slight huff. She had been shot, but she was trying to put it behind her.

Rainbow Dash understood the frustration of being grounded; it was like an earth pony being hoof-cuffed. However, she had more important things to do than commiserate. The Solar Scout stepped forward with the black box from the destroyer, her prize from a successful mission, and reported to her acting superior, “Princess, this is the ship’s transmitter. As far as Imperial Command is concerned, this is H.M.S. Wrathstar. If you keep it moving, they won’t even know the ship went down, assuming you were jamming their radio.”

Luna adjusted quickly to the situation, and replied, “Excellent. I do not know what has brought this about, but you have gained my trust. Corporal,” she said to a nearby officer, “see to it that this transmitter is flown southeast at twenty knots.”

“That’s not the only thing they are tracking,” Twilight confessed. “They can follow dragon-streams to…” she hesitated, “one of us.” The statement was laced with implications.

Luna grasped the portent immediately, and asked, “Who are they tracking?”

“A pony I’ve brought to see you,” Twilight replied cautiously. “That’s why I came.”

The Princess was puzzled, and asked again, “Can you explain all this quickly?”

“Dusk” was still a ways away, and besides, Twilight doubted very much the situation could be approached quickly and casually. “No.”

“We must move,” Luna alerted, “I will speak with Applejack on the way back to camp. You will meet me there.” She turned and instructed one of her magicians, “Sidayana, you know how to confuse such communication. Follow Doctor Sparkle to the subject and ensure the pony is disconnected.”

Those near her tucked their ears as Luna bellowed over the stale battlefield, “Get ready to return to camp, we leave at thirteen hundred hours!” She moved on to coordinate the move and deal with the matter of prisoners.

“Wow, Dash, I thought you were still a Solar,” Applejack commented.

“I am, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t on the same side,” Captain Dash professed.

Applejack could only blink in consternation at that remark.