• Published 2nd Jul 2013
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Ace Combat: Wings of Unity - PolishValsion



Based on Namco's Ace Combat series of video games. A sequel to Ace Combat: The Equestrian War.

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Chapter 13: The Four Reapers

Two pegasi fighters engage in a heated battle,

Their skills and determination make an even match.

But a bigger threat is approaching.

The sun sets with fiery blaze...

Chapter 13

The Four Reapers

August 29th, 2021
1745 hrs
Ceres Ocean, Equestria airspace

As per Aurora’s order and eager to test their newest weapon out, the Reapers were slowly flying toward Manehattan, doing their best to not draw any attention to themselves. Havoc still seemed to be having doubts about the Zeal, so he flew closer to Shockwave. The purple pegasus noticed his companion.

“The look on your face suggests that you want to ask me something…” Shockwave said slowly.

“Uh, yeah, well… you see, Shockwave,” Havoc started, “I’m kinda worried. I mean, it’s great that we got this brand new battle armor to test out, but, uh… have you thought about what to do if something goes… wrong?”

That last word caused some inner ire within Shockwave. He never once considered that anything could be wrong with his great invention.

“What do you mean exactly?”

“I meant… What if things go haywire? What if the system suddenly shuts down? What if the armors just falls apart all of a sudden?”

Shockwave looked at him blankly.

“... And your point is?”

“Shouldn’t you have that thing… I dunno, you should put that in experimental phase before handing it to us right away… Just sayin’,” Havoc added quickly, seeing Shockwave’s annoyed expression.

The purple pegasus sighed and replied:

“I understand that you are concerned, but you shouldn’t be. I’ve run more than enough tests on the Zeal before I’ve decided that it is capable of performing in combat. I have complete confidence in my abilities, and you should have it too. The Zeal will work fine. Besides, we have a reliable power source. Have you seen the small gemstones I’ve inserted into the armors?”

Havoc briefly looked at his chest. He did saw a small red stone clogged inside. Shockwave had it too, and so did the others.

“Yeah… What about them?”

“These are actually the pieces of a Fire Ruby, one of the most valuable and desired gems in the world,” Shockwave explained. “A similar gem is used by King Aigaion himself to power his own armor. Lady Aurora allowed me to use one of the rubies she possessed to experiment on.”

“... Huh. Okay…” Havoc muttered.

“It showed to be containing a sustainable amount of magical energy to power our armors as well,” Shockwave carried on. “Even though these gems were never meant to be used as energy extractors, they are strong enough to initiate the activation sequence. The rest will be done by us. I’m certain things will work out perfectly. You will see once you’ll feel the power of the Zeal surging through your body.”

Havoc remained silent for a moment, but he seemed to be convinced by Shockwave’s explanation.

“Okay… I guess I’ll take your word for it…”

He then heard a gleeful yell as Trickster kept zipping around the others, admiring Shockwave’s creation. The metal alloy of which the armors were made of was surprisingly light, yet very durable, allowing them to maintain their agility and speed without worrying about restrictions.

“This is totally awesome! I take back what I said about these babies before! If they can really give us a radical performance in fight, then Shockwave, dude… You are a real genius!”

Shockwave laughed under his breath.

“It’s nice to hear words of praise from you for once.”

Trickster then flew to Deathwing and asked:

“Yo, Deathwing! Let’s go over this again! When we get to the base and we run into Mirage squadron, can I join you in busting up their flanks? Pleeeease?!”

Deathwing groaned quietly in response.

“That’s the tenth time you’re asking me this, Trickster. And I already said: yes, you can join us in the assault. Although… If I am to be perfectly honest with you, I’d prefer you’d act as a distraction. Annoying our enemies like a buzzing fly — it’s what you do best.”

Trickster chuckled.

“He-hey, thanks! It’s nice to know you think my skills are amazing.”

Havoc, having overheard that conversation, leaned toward Shockwave and whispered to his right ear:

“Dude… there’s an obvious insult in what Deathwing said, right?”

Shockwave looked back at him.

“Havoc… You’re far more intelligent than you look.”

Havoc rose his right eyebrow.

“Thanks… I guess. I mean, I’m not sure if that was another insult or… Argh!” he whined. “You guys are sometimes so un… uncommu…”

“Uncommunicative?” Shockwave suggested.

“Yeah! That! It’s really hard to talk normally with you guys sometimes.”

Deathwing noticed Havoc and Shockwave conversing with each other. He slowed down a bit and said:

“Keep your focus on, brothers! We must stick to our mission parameters. Shockwave, how much further to Manehattan?”

“If my calculations are correct, we should be within the airspace in about 30 minutes.”

“All right. Maintain your speed. The less attention we draw, the better…”

-----------------

Rainbow Dash hovered in place, staring at Lightning Dust, who just explained her motives behind leaving the Equestrian Allied Forces. Her desire to become the best pegasus fighter in the world meant that that she considered pretty much the entire world as her enemy now. Rainbow knew there was no point in trying to convince Lightning Dust to come back to the Headquarters peacefully now.

“So, that’s how you want to settle it?” Rainbow asked her.

“Isn’t it the best option? Fighting solves all problems. If I defeat my opponents and those who think wrongly of me, it will prove that I was right and that I am the best,” Lightning Dust replied.

Rainbow Dash gave her an angry look.

“You know what? If I didn’t know you, I’d say you’re just acting like an idiot. But now I see I was wrong. You really ARE an idiot.”

“Oh yeah?! Then come on and fight me! Let’s see who’s right!” Lightning Dust exclaimed.

“I’ll gladly kick your flank… and maybe knock some sense into your brain, if it’s still there,” Rainbow replied.

Lightning Dust snickered.

“Hilarious. OK then, let’s make this more exciting. I’m going to give you a deal.”

“A… deal?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah. If you win, I’ll surrender myself and I’ll let you take me back to the Headquarters. But if I win, then you’re going to let me go. How’s that?”

Rainbow though about this for a while. She really wanted to give Lightning Dust a rather painful lesson, plus it was also a great occasion for her to really put her skills to the test. Since her fights with the Reapers over Fillydelphia and Canterlot, she did not encounter anypony who could truly make her sweat. She knew Lightning Dust was her equal, perhaps she was even superior to her in some aspects. The sense of challenge overcame Rainbow’s mind.

The blue pegasus nodded.

“All right, you’re on!”

Lightning Dust grinned.

“I knew you’d agree. You can try telling yourself that Spitfire sent you after me, but I know that you want to fight me really badly. There’s no point in hiding it, Dash. You want this fight just as much as I do. I know you. We got a lot of things in common. If not for that mishap in the Academy… maybe we could’ve been great friends.”

“Mishap?” Rainbow asked angrily. “That’s what you think. If I wasn’t fast enough, my friends would’ve been dead because of you, showing off!”

“None of this would’ve happened if they didn’t show up…” Lightning Dust interjected.

“That doesn’t matter now! Now it’s just you and me! And I will beat you, Lightning Dust.”

Rainbow fixed her sight on her opponent and took a battle stance.

“OK, Dash. Let’s have some fun. Show me what you’ve got! You ready?!”

"Just say when!”

The two locked their eyes onto each other. Time briefly slowed down… then Rainbow and Lightning Dust darted forward.

“You’re going down!”

“You wish!”

As they clashed, the two mares exchanged a flurry of blows. Lightning Dust’s punches failed to connect, as Rainbow easily figured out her moves. By swaying her head to the sides and blocking, she managed to avoid almost all attacks. She took the initiative then and even though Lightning Dust tried to imitate Rainbow’s movement, she got hit in the face a few times.

Rearing back, the turquoise pegasus tried rushing her opponent once more. Rainbow saw through her aggressive style. She just waited for a moment before Lightning Dust was right next to her, then she quickly flew upward. Rainbow used this opportunity to kick her opponent in the back of the head with her rear hooves. This caught Lightning Dust off balance, allowing Rainbow to dive down and send her flying down toward one of the clouds with a charge attack.

Rainbow had the upper hand in this confrontation. However, Lightning Dust quickly recovered and was prepared to keep fighting.

“Is that all you’ve got, LD?” Rainbow asked her. “Kinda underwhelming…”

“You haven’t even seen half of what I’m capable of!” Lightning Dust retorted.

“Quit your boasting. If you’re really so good, prove it,” Rainbow provoked her. “Give me a real challenge! Surprise me.”

Lightning Dust’s response was an angry growl. She flew toward Rainbow Dash, throwing one punch after the other. This time the blue pegasus took a more direct approach. She blocked and parried most of Lightning Dust’s attacks and tried hitting her with a swift punch or kick herself. But Lightning Dust managed to adapt to Rainbow’s tactics fairly quickly, and dodged most of Rainbow’s attacks.

She thought she saw an opening in her defense and tried hitting her in the jaw with an uppercut, but that was just a feint. When Rainbow Dash saw Lightning Dust falling for her trick, she quickly moved her head back and delivered a strong kick to Lightning Dust’s abdomen, stunning her briefly.

This allowed Rainbow to perform a series of consecutive punches to the face, ending with a kick that sent the turquoise flier downward. However, Lightning Dust recovered just in time to see Rainbow coming at her. With a quick backflip, she ascended.

The two were now looking at each other again, using this small break in their duel to catch some breath. Rainbow Dash was confident that she would win this fight.

“I’m not impressed,” she said to Lightning Dust. “Why don’t you just give up?”

“Never!” Lightning Dust yelled in response.” I’m not finished with you yet!”

“Stubborn as always, aren’t you…” Rainbow said quietly.

It was clear to her that Lightning Dust had skills to match her abilities, but her anger was causing her to pour all of her energy into predictable attacks. When Lightning Dust tried circling around Rainbow, waiting for the right moment to attack, the blue pegasus foresaw her actions and darted toward her, taking her completely by surprise.

Rainbow hit her in the ribs and twice in the face before Lightning Dust parried her next kick and returned the favor with a punch to the stomach. Rainbow resisted the force of the blow and headbutted Lightning Dust in the forehead. Then she followed with several rapid punches to the chest and an axe kick that sent Lightning Dust downward.

She landed on one of the clouds, and it took her a few seconds to get up. She was sweating, but the look of determination did not leave her face.

Rainbow Dash was hovering above her opponent. She called out to her:

“Give it up, Lightning Dust! It’s over!”

The turquoise mare wiped the sweat from her face and replied:

“No… Not yet! It’s not over yet!”

But, though she tried to put up a brave look, Lightning Dust was desperate. Things were looking really bad for her.

“Dammit! She got a lot tougher. But I can’t give up now… I gotta keep fighting. Guess there’s only one way to go… I never thought I’d be forced to use this so soon. Let’s hope this works…!”

Lightning Dust briefly closed her eyes, then she took off into the air again… seemingly trying to fly away from the area.

“Hey, where’d you think you’re going?!” Rainbow Dash shouted to her.

She followed her immediately. Lightning Dust led her to another sector of the area, where several small islands were adorning the endless blue ocean. The sun was slowly setting behind the horizon. Rainbow Dash kept flying after Lightning Dust, not sure what to make of her actions. First she wants to fight, now she’s fleeing…?

“You won’t escape from me!” Rainbow exclaimed to her opponent.

Lightning Dust looked behind her and grinned slightly.

“... Who said I’m tryin’ to escape?” she said to herself.

Suddenly, she ascended and flew higher. Rainbow followed her again, trying to get closer. Then, just as she was about to get within melee range, Lightning Dust suddenly dived down toward one of the islands. Rainbow was slowly losing her cool, diving after Lightning Dust again. She observed her radar.

“That’s it… just a bit more… come on…”

When Rainbow got really close to her, Lightning Dust decided to take action.

“OK, here goes nothing… now!”

With a dazzling move, Lighting Dust performed a somersault forward, changing her position, then quickly darted upward in Rainbow Dash’s direction. It took her completely by surprise.

“You fell for it!” Lightning Dust yelled.

“Oh crap!”

Rainbow realized her mistake too late. She received a powerful uppercut to the jaw. Its force was big enough to make her roll back, while Lightning Dust made a backflip and dived down toward Rainbow, hitting her chest with her front hooves and heading toward the island with the intent of crashing Rainbow to the ground. Despite the stunning blow, the blue pegasus tried to fight back. Unfortunately, her punches failed to connect.

Lightning Dust then quickly rolled to the right and increased her speed to get slightly ahead of Rainbow. Then she kicked her in the back, hurting her right wing as well. The blow was so powerful that it briefly kept Rainbow in place with a look of disbelief and pain on her face. Lightning Dust immediately followed with a series of quick punches to the ribcage, with every hit causing Rainbow to gasp in pain.

Finally, Lightning Dust sent Rainbow Dash crashing down with a kick in the face. The blue pegasus went down screaming, and although she tried her best to regain control of her wings, they refused to obey her. Rainbow fell down on the small island and hit the ground hard. Though the branches prevented her from sustaining any major injuries, she couldn’t get up for a while.

Lightning Dust was breathing heavily, but a gleeful smile appeared on her face when she looked on her front hooves.

“That worked…? That worked! YES! Haha! Awesome!”

She managed to calm her emotions a little bit as she descended toward the island. Seeing Rainbow Dash lying on her back on the ground defeated and in pain caused Lightning Dust to go back to her boastful attitude. As she was landing, she couldn’t help but to rub her victory in her opponent’s face.

“Ha! How’d ya liked that, huh? I told you I’d win! That was some radical combo, wasn’t it? I’ve been working on it for a while now. I think it deserves a cool name… hmm… Let’s see, I’ll call it… ‘Lightning Meteor.’ What do you think?”

Rainbow’s only response was painful gasps as she tried to slowly getting up from the ground. Lightning Dust started walking toward her.

“Yeah, I know. Not the most original name, but it gets the job done,” the turquoise pegasus said.

Shoring up on her front legs, Rainbow tried to stand, but just then she felt Lightning Dust’s right front hoof landing on her chest. As she pinned her to the ground, Lightning Dust leaned toward Rainbow.

“Sorry, Dash. Looks like I win.”

Rainbow grit her teeth.

“You… just got…”

“Lucky?” Lightning Dust finished. “No, that was all skill. A deal’s a deal. You gotta let me leave.”

Grunting, Rainbow tried to talk to her again.

“What… good does it do for you? Why are you… trying to make… everypony an enemy?”

Lightning Dust pressed her hoof down on her chest a bit more, causing Rainbow to yelp in pain.

“You don’t seem to understand. If there is anypony that I would call an enemy, it’s you. You stole everything from me… But, now that I’ve beaten you… I’m going to go beyond. If I can beat you, Dash, then no pony can be a challenge for me. I’ll defeat anyone who will get in my way of becoming the best. And… when the Wonderbolts will hear of my successes, they will BEG me to join them!”

Rainbow Dash tried to shove Lightning’s hoof out of her chest and get up again.

“You’re crazy…!”

A confident smirk appeared on Lightning Dust’s face.

“Tell you what, Dash… I could just kill you right now. But actually… I really enjoyed that fight. So, I’m gonna spare you this time. Enjoy living with the knowledge that you were beaten by somepony better than you.”

The turquoise flier chuckled, then brought her other front hoof on Rainbow’s right wing, the one that was strained already. When she pressed on it, Rainbow winced.

“A word of advice… Don’t try to follow me. If I meet you again, I WILL kill you!”

Lightning Dust rubbed her hoof on Rainbow’s wing violently, causing her to scream in pain. Then, she finally backed away, turned around and spread her wings.

“See you… Rainbow Trash.”

Lightning Dust flew up, leaving the island and Rainbow behind. Dash finally managed to get up from the ground, but the pain in her right wing prevented her from going after her opponent. All she could do was watch her disappear in the distance, reach her hoof out and call out to her in vain:

“Come back here…! You… idiot…!”

Rainbow was gasping for breath for several seconds, still trying to comprehend how did she lost the fight. Everything was going well for her until that last moment, when she let her overconfidence bring out the worst in her.

“Horseapples… I should’ve been more perceptive… Maybe then I’d… Ugh… I gotta report back to Spitfire… And I bet she’s not going to like the news…”

Slowly, the blue pegasus reached her hoof for the communicator, adjusting the frequency. All the while, she tried to stretch her right wing a bit to nullify the pain.

“Wonderbolt 1, this is Mirage 1… do you read me?”

-----------------

Little did Rainbow Dash know that the Reaper squadron was approaching the Manehattan airspace. Shockwave suddenly noticed a single contact appearing on his radar. He quickly identified it as a unit of the Equestrian Allied Forces and alerted his companions about it.

“Could it be a scout?” Havoc wondered.

“Doubt it,” Shockwave replied. “No scout would go so far away from the Headquarters. And they wouldn’t let one do it alone. If anything…”

“Ah, who cares, who it is!” Trickster exclaimed. “Let’s just go and kill it!”

“No,” said Deathwing. “I doubt it’s anypony we should be concerned about…”

Shockwave observed the contact for a while. It seemed to be heading southeast and did not seem to notice the Reapers’ presence. Satisfied with this, Deathwing told the others to resume their flight. They were getting closer to their destination…

==========

1800 hrs
Manehattan, EAF Headquarters

Spitfire and the other fliers from Mirage squadron were waiting for Rainbow to report back. They had no idea how the battle went, and they were getting a little nervous.

“What’s going on? Rainbow should’ve called us back right now,” Lightning Bolt wondered.

“Could something bad happened to her?” Derpy asked.

“I told you! You should’ve let me go with her!” Medley jumped in.

“You’d just be extra weight for Rainbow, and an easy target for Lightning Dust,” Firefly snarked at her.

“Say what?!”

Spitfire suddenly heard beeping in her communicator.

“Quiet down, girls! I got a call… Wonderbolt 1 here. Yeah, I read you, Rainbow… What? Got away?”

Rainbow’s voice, heard in the headphones, sounded a little dull while she was breathing heavily.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am… We fought and… she was just better, I don’t know… I blame myself for letting her escape.”

Spitfire sighed heavily.

“This is not what I wanted to hear… But, at least you tried. Go back to base, Dash, we’ll talk here.”

“Yeah… Argh!”

Another painful grunt escaped Rainbow’s mouth as she was stretching her wing.

“You OK, Dash? Are you hurt?” Spitfire asked.

“It’s nothing… Just a few bruises and a strained right wing. I’ll manage,” Rainbow replied.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes or so… Rainbow out.”

Spitfire sighed.

“This is not what I hoped for… So much for my plan…” she thought to herself.

Firefly and the others watched Spitfire’s expression during the conversation. They knew things didn’t go well.

“Lightning Dust got away?” Firefly asked.

Spitfire confirmed it with a nod.

“Is Rainbow all right?” Fluttershy asked.

“She’s fine. She’ll be back here soon,” Spitfire ascertained.

Medley angrily stomped her hoof on the ground.

“Darn! Maybe if I was there, we could apprehend that traitor…”

“In your dreams, Kid…” Firefly growled.

“Hey! What is your problem?!” the green pegasus exclaimed.

Cloud Kicker tried to keep the two mares from tackling each other.

“Girls, I know you’re nervous, but keep it cool. Rainbow will be back. Just take it easy.”

Firefly and Medley still glared at each other for a moment, but then they both apologized at almost the same time, which caused Cloud Kicker to giggle in amusement. Only Fluttershy seemed to be really worried about her friend, as she observed the sun disappearing on the horizon.

A cold breeze blew in her face, making her shiver briefly.

“Rainbow…”

-----------------

Just as the Reapers were approaching the small islands in whose vicinity Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust fought, Shockwave picked up another signal on his radar.

“This is getting suspicious…” Deathwing grumbled. “Can you identify it?”

“Give me a moment… Oh. It’s… Mirage 1.”

Trickster and Havoc suddenly came to a halt.

“W-Wait, WHAT?!” the yellow pegasus exclaimed.

“Dude, are you for real?” Havoc asked.

“The data doesn’t lie. She’s down there, on one of those islands,” Shockwave replied.

Deathwing scratched his chin for a moment.

“Intriguing… What is she doing here? And… could there be other fliers from her squadron in the area? Shockwave, are there any more enemy contacts in…”

“Negative,” Shockwave interrupted. “My radar shows no enemy contacts beside that one down there in a 7 mile radius. We can safely assume Rainbow Dash is alone here.”

Trickster cackled maniacally.

“Ha, ha! Talk about a lucky break, dudes! Not only do we get to test those beauties we’re wearing, but we also get to pummel that so-called ‘Princess of the Skies’! Let’s DO IT!”

He was just about to descend when Havoc suddenly stopped him.

“Take it easy, hotshot!”

“Why don’t you stop going headfirst into battles? One day you may break your skull on your mistakes,” Deathwing told him.

Trickster gave him a confused look, as the black-coated pegasus continued:

“Even with our advantage, it may be reckless to engage an enemy without knowing her location. Let’s wait for her to show up, then we’ll attack. Shockwave, make sure she won’t be able to call any support over the radio.”

“Affirmative,” Shockwave replied. “I’ll have the radio jammer on standby.”

The Reapers decided to rest on the clouds, waiting for Rainbow to appear. Completely unaware of the danger, the blue pegasus was finally feeling less and less pain in her right wing. She breathed out in relief.

“Phew… OK, time to head back.”

Rainbow Dash slowly ascended. Shockwave’s radar picked up her signal, and after a few seconds, he noticed her silhouette leaving one of the islands.

“Visual on the target,” he reported.

“All right. Remember, brothers, use the Zeal only when necessary. We should be able to defeat her with numbers and skills alone,” Deathwing told the others.

“Roger that, boss,” Havoc replied.

“Yeah, yeah… Let’s just do it!” Trickster clashed his hooves impatiently.

“Do it, Shockwave.”

“Initializing radio jammer… All communications and radio waves in the area will be down for several minutes. Should me more than enough for us to eliminate her.”

The purple pegasus pressed a few button on his communicator and on his armor. Then he gave Deathwing a nod. He responded the same way.

“Right… Reapers, engage!

Rainbow Dash suddenly heard an ear-piercing sound in her communicator that caused her to stop for a moment, letting out a mild squeak.

“Yeow! Agh! What the…? What the heck was that?”

She tried to adjust the frequency, but the device refused to work. All she heard was static.

“Oh, come on, not you, too… There’s always a problem with that stuff when you least expect it. I better bring it to Thunder before it breaks down completely…”

Just then, a warning signal appeared on her radar. It showed four red dots heading toward her. Rainbow widened her eyes in surprise.

“What? The Exiles, here…?”

She quickly turned around and noticed the Reaper squadron heading toward her from above. Rainbow’s heart began to race. Things suddenly turned for the worst for her.

“Oh, you gotta be buckin’ kidding me… Not those guys again! Of all the times…! Today’s just not my day,” she thought to herself, trying unsuccessfully to calm herself down and not make it seem like a big deal. Rainbow stopped in place, allowing the Reapers to catch up to her.

Deathwing greeted her with a satisfying smile.

“Rainbow Dash, welcome. It’s been a while since the last we saw each other.”

Rainbow Dash growled in response before saying:

“What are you doing here?”

Trickster laughed.

“What do you think? We were looking for somepony to play with! And, what luck, you are here! Talk about a convenient setup!”

“I really got no time for you, guys,” said Rainbow. “Do me a favor and get outta here.”

“Oh, what’s this? Where is your fighting spirit?” Deathwing mocked her. “Did we show up at a bad time…? Hm, hm…”

“Perhaps she feels a little overwhelmed. It’s understandable,” said Shockwave.” Maybe you should call for backup. We’ll let you do it. Go ahead.”

Rainbow Dash glared back at them, reached for her communicator and tried to contact her friends.

“Firefly, come in. This is Rainbow. I got company here. Do you read me, over?”

She waited for a moment, but there was no response. She tried again.

“Firefly? Come in! The Reapers are here! Firefly!”

Only static answered Rainbow’s call. Deathwing and his companions looked at each other, seemingly enjoying themselves, as the watched Rainbow desperately try to call the rest of Mirage fliers in vain.

“Medley? Lightning Bolt?! Fluttershy?! Anypony! Come on! Somepony respond, please respond!”

Trickster kept grimacing, trying to imitate Rainbow, nearly causing Havoc to laugh. The small pegasus soon laughed himself.

“Guess nopony’s coming to save your hide, huh? Ha hah! Too bad!”

Rainbow Dash lowered her sight. All odds were against her. Her situation seemed hopeless. Not only did she get caught by the enemy at the worst possible time, but she had very few options available. While her best bet would be to fly back to Manehattan as quickly as possible, she knew that the Reapers could easily keep up with her speed. Not to mention her strained right wing still hurt her mildly, preventing her from flying at her best.

Taking on all four of the Reapers at once was an equivalent to suicide...

But Rainbow Dash faced extremely low odds before and managed to come out on top. She hoped that she could, at the very least, stall for time and keep the Reapers engaged for several minutes. Maybe then her friends, alerted by her being late and not reporting back, will come to help her.

This was her only hope, and she had to hold onto it in this confrontation. Rainbow Dash lifted her sight, looking confidently at Deathwing and his companions and said:

“Yeah… It’s too bad. Nopony’s gonna see me whooping your flanks!”

The Reapers looked at Rainbow with sincere surprise. Even Shockwave wasn’t certain if he heard her right.

“So, even when facing certain defeat… you keep putting on a brave face,” Deathwing scoffed. “You know that you don’t stand a chance against all of us alone.”

“Correct,” said Shockwave. “Her chances of winning are no bigger than… 0.01%. She is clearly outclassed.”

“Says you,” Rainbow Dash retorted. “You didn’t say you guys have 100% chance to win, so I’ll take my chances. You’re in for a big surprise.”

Havoc growled.

“Couple broken bones ought to shatter that ego… Come on, guys, let’s get her!”

He charged straight at Rainbow, but she made a quick backflip, dodging the attack. Havoc immediately returned back to his companions, wondering why they didn’t follow up.

“Hey, guys! We can beat her easily, come on!”

“Yeah! Let’s break her into bits!” Trickster added.

“Hold on,” said Deathwing. “Rainbow Dash…”

His eyes were locked on the blue pegasus, as if he was trying to analyze something.

“Even now, you stand defiantly and want to fight us… If you were any smarter, you would be fleeing for your life.”

A small smirk appeared on Rainbow’s face.

“Heh. Don’t get me wrong, guys. If I had a choice in the matter, I’d rather be sleeping on a cloud a hundred miles away from here. But running away is not my style. I hate backing away from a challenge.”

Now Deathwing returned the smirk. He comprehended Rainbow’s way of thinking. Even when backed into a corner, she still refused to give up. That was the one thing he admired in her.

“Hm. Bravo. Praiseworthy indeed. I am not surprised by your attitude. It’s clear that you are a naturally born fighter, probably one of the best there is. But you should know this… Everypony has limits. One should know these limits… Otherwise, overconfidence will lead to a painful downfall.”

“I’ve learned to overcome my limits. They are meant to be broken,” Rainbow Dash replied. Her combative spirit surged anew. “If I can overcome another one by fighting you… that’s fine with me.”

Deathwing looked at his companions.

“Very well. Then have it your way. Brothers, we don’t have to fly to Manehattan now. We have a much bigger target here… Rainbow Dash, Lady Aurora requires your death. And we will be happy to fulfill her order.”

Rainbow squinted her eyes.

“Heh… Do your worst.”

Her thoughts, however, reflected something completely different.

“Way to go, Rainbow Dash. You’re in the deep now. If you survive this… beat yourself up. Really hard.”

Deathwing reared up, preparing to initiate the attack.

“Let’s see how much you have learned, Princess of the Skies. We will give you your last and most beautiful battle. Reaper squadron, engage!”

Again, Havoc tried to strike Rainbow first, but she dodged to the side, avoiding his punch. Shockwave approached her next, aiming his blows at Rainbow’s ribcage. However, the blue pegasus drew most of her attention to him almost instantly, parrying nearly all of his attacks. She did get hit in the face once, but that didn’t faze her much. Trickster charged at Rainbow Dash from behind, yelling loudly.

Rainbow had no problem anticipating his attack. She waited for him to approach, then quickly kicked her back legs, hitting him in the jaw and causing the small pegasus to fly several meters away. Shockwave tried hitting her again, but Rainbow was faster. She performed a quick headbutt in Shockwave's face, stunning him briefly.

Flying to the side, Rainbow got a grasp of her surroundings just in time to see Deathwing coming at her. Crossing her arms, she blocked his charging attack, then immediately broke her guard, made a quick backflip, and used her rear legs to kick him away. Rainbow dived down, noticing Havoc and Trickster coming at her together. They tried to attack her from both sides. Rainbow quickly ascended, which caused the two Reapers to abandon their tactic.

Trickster went after her alone. Rainbow made a 180 degree turn, surprising her opponent and performing a diving kick, hitting Trickster in the face. The blue flier barely had time to catch a breath, as Deathwing tried attacking her again. Rainbow’s reaction was a little too late this time, as she got kicked in the stomach. She managed to shrug it off and quickly countered with a series of punches.

Deathwing tried parrying her attacks, but most of Rainbow’s strikes connected. She then heard Trickster yelling again and trying to tackle her. Rainbow kicked Deathwing away, made a somersault, and came down on Trickster, hitting him in the back.

Shockwave attempted his own attack again, aiming for Rainbow’s back. Rainbow quickly turned around, though she didn’t react fast enough to block it. Shockwave managed to hit her in the ribcage, but Rainbow quickly grabbed him and threw him downward. The purple flier recovered easily.

Deathwing was more than astonished at Rainbow’s performance.

“Even against such odds, she is still giving her all… I’ve been looking for such an opponent all my life,” he thought to himself.

The same could not be said about Trickster. He was getting really frustrated as he tried to tackle Rainbow again, but she not only dodged to the side, but also instantly followed with a kick to his head, causing Trickster to spin out of control for a moment. When he came to, he looked a little dizzy. Seeing their strategy as flawed, Deathwing called the other Reapers to regroup.

This break finally gave Rainbow Dash some time to catch her breath. She was wheezing and sweating a little, her right wing started hurting her again, but had a satisfying smile on her face.

“What’s wrong, guys? Not as easy as you thought, huh?!” she asked.

“Damn!” Trickster cursed. “What’s going on? What is she made of?!”

“I don’t get it. We should be able to beat her easily,” said Havoc.

Shockwave squinted his eyes.

“We underestimated her again. But no more. Deathwing, I believe now the time is right.”

Deathwing nodded.

“I agree.”

He then turned to Rainbow Dash. She noticed that the Reapers suddenly got more confident.

“Rainbow Dash. You are a dangerous and skilled adversary,” Deathwing said to her. “But not even you will be able to defeat us. You will be the first to witness the power of our new weapon.”

“What weapon?” Rainbow asked. “I don’t see any weapons here… unless you mean those red armored suits that you’re wearing. Sure, an interesting change of wardrobe, but they seem to make you slower. Rarity would have a field day with you guys—”

“GAAAH! I’m sick of her!” Trickster yelled. “Let me kill her flank!”

“If you think these armors are a disadvantage, that’s a serious error of judgment,” said Shockwave. “You are about to see the true power of the Reaper squadron. Let’s initiate the sequence, Deathwing. The radio jammer will not last forever.”

Hearing that last sentence, Rainbow Dash tried putting pieces together.

“Radio jammer… So that’s why I couldn’t contact the others. It wasn’t the fault of the communicator, it was their doing. Talk about an unfortunate coincidence… Guess I’ll just have to keep fighting them until the jammer wears off and call for the other girls. But… why do I feel it’s not going to be easy…?”

Deathwing was surrounded by his companions. All four had risen their right forelegs close to their mouths. Rainbow noticed they had something that looked like small speakers on them.

“Zeal, activate!”

The four pegasi said it at the same time. Nothing happened at first, but then Rainbow noticed that their armors also had a small red gemstone in each of them. She didn’t notice them at first in the heat of battle, but looking at them now… Those gems started shining brightly. They brought back the memories of facing Gleipnir in Ponyville…

The Reapers started acting strangely.

“What in the hay…?” Rainbow wondered aloud.

Each reacted differently to the sudden power surge rushing through their bodies. Havoc briefly flexed his body and let out a satisfying growl.

“I feel… the POWER!” he exclaimed.

Shockwave looked like he was having seizures for a moment, then looked at his hooves, feeling much stronger and lighter.

“This is incredible…” he said.

Trickster only cackled maniacally as he started zipping back and forth in a rapid fashion. He was clearly enjoying the taste of new power.

“Hot da-a-a-amn! This stuff is intense! Hee ha ha ha ha!”

Deathwing reacted the most calmly of all, but his reaction disturbed Rainbow Dash the most. He was just hovering in place with his sight lowered, and his voice got deeper.

“Such an amazing power…”

The black-coated pegasus then lifted his head. His eyes briefly flashed in red color, as did the other Reapers.

“You have no hope of victory.”

Rainbow Dash gulped, feeling sweat gathering on her forehead again, as well as an uneasy feeling inside.

“Yeah… Something tells me the easy part is over…” she though to herself.