Short: Fleet Day
Spitfire had been the Captain of the Wonderbolts for 13 years before she became Air Martial, the youngest Captain in their long history. As a matter of fact there was a little known regulation that set the minimum age at 20, which she had quietly repealed upon taking the reigns at 17. Nearly all of her speed records had been broken by Rainbow Dash, who seemed like some sort of mythical legend come to Equestria to show them all up, but Spitfire was something she could never be- a great leader. Behind her desk in her quarters on the Magnificent were two things. The first was a display case of her medals and ribbons- Spitfire knew that she commanded respect without them on her uniform, and the second was the only known remaining portrait of Commander Hurricane. Spitfire had it moved from her home to her quarters here, knowing that he would be proud to know what his children would accomplish in the future. The Magnificent was a testament to the resolve of the pegasi that crewed it, the strength of the earth ponies that built it, and the powerful magic of the unicorns that gave it life. It was he who re-formed the Pegasus National Military into the Wonderbolts following the long bitter infighting between the races, and Spitfire was proud to be at the helm of the great institution. His lineage was long since lost to history, but Spitfire knew in her heart that his blood ran through her veins.
Upon receiving the fleet she had even renamed her chosen ship, an extremely fast experimental scout aircraft, after him. That ship was up in the main hanger now, parked behind a dozen similar vehicles. Those were the Phoenix craft, and were created thirty years by the Night Guard in secret. They could carry a heavy payload silently, quickly, and unseen high in the sky. They were now used to great effect to strike griffon rocket launching sites in the dead of night, and had effectively removed that threat from Baltimare. The only downside was that these were strategic weapons- they pilots could see the ground only as well as the ground could see them, so if there was even a minimal chance of friendly forces nearby they couldn't be used. They also tended to overheat relatively fast, which meant if they wanted to start bombing the griffon home islands they would need a staging ground. With these craft, the ferocity of the Legion on the ground, and the Night Guard keeping up the assault at night to deny the griffon occupiers even the slightest rest, they had slowly but surely carved their way through Baltimare.
At this point most of the city itself was clear, with only the dockyard island remaining to be taken. The leadership had agreed that their forces would take some rest and refit time before the final push, for as soon as that was done the campaign in the ocean would begin, and they would need to keep the momentum as long as possible. Dozens of islands were along the ocean between Equestria and the Griffon Home Islands, and they would each need to be taken in turn. It would long, it would be hard, but Equestria will prevail.
Thus, the Magnificent was docked near Canterlot, and most of it's crew was aground on leave. Princess Luna herself was taking some time during the day to inspect the ship, and Spitfire greatly looked forward to some one on one time with the Princess of the Night. The two had similar ideas of how to properly run this war, and how to lead. As much as Spitfire respected Princess Celestia, war was no place for the sun. War was a darkness that needed to be met head on with all ones strength, sparing nothing for later and going for total commitment. With Luna in charge, the war would be won by Hearths Warming. Spitfire hoped to convince her to give her additional support in her time on the ship.
In order to hide the fact that they were preparing for a major offensive, the media had been informed that this was part of 'Fleet Day'. There was even a parade down in the city, Spitfire had Wing Commander Rainbow Dash lead it, allowing herself to ignore it. She had a feeling she would regret this, the ship had difficulty carrying that mares ego already.
Spitifire strolled along the deck amongst the buildings that lined it. The Wonderbolt's entire organization was run from here now, and within these buildings all the institutions of a modern military were housed. Signals intelligence, logistics, flight control, and a large cafeteria- the ship was more a flying city then anything. When it came time to fight though, it became a fortress. Spitfire glanced to her side at the evidence of that- enormous cannons that ran the length of the deck. They fired shells the size of the average pony at a speed that ensured anything they hit was rarely seen again. As well as the obvious use in ship to ship combat, which was somewhat rare considering the command and control nature of the vessel, they provided artillery support with a vast range. Thus far this ability had not been used, since the fighting was within an Equestrian city, but soon enough it would be put to the test.
It was at this point that Spitfire realized she had picked up a tail at some point, and glanced back to see a young pegasus following her some distance back. His uniform was blank, rankless. No rank meant that he was a cadet, either barely out of the academy or recently brought in as a reservist.
"You got something to say, Cadet?" Spitfire addressed. The pony quickly darted forward and awkwardly trotted behind her.
"I uh, I was wondering if I uh... could get your autograph?" He asked.
Spitfire rolled her eyes and looked shook her head, turning her glance back forward. "Go find me a transfer request, and I'll do it," She said.
This was followed by the frantic flutter of wings and she grinned, that pegasus was in for a big surprise w-
"Got it!" He shouted. Spitfire halted and turned, finding to her surprise he had somehow already acquired one. He held it forward in a trembling hoof.
Spitfire took it, and used her wing to grab a pen from her pocket. "An academy record, what's your name cadet?" She asked.
"Rain Shimmer, ma'am!" He replied.
Spitfire jotted down his name, and assigned him to janitorial duty.
She then signed it, and handed it back. She didn't expect him to actually file it, but no officer could pass up the chance to mess with a cadet. As far as Spitfire was concerned, half of their existence was to provide entertainment for senior officers.
Approaching the end of the deck, after a good ten minutes of trotting, Spitfire saw the buildings of Canterlot beyond the few dozen ramps that lead down into the city. The ship was nearly the length of the city itself, and it had been a popular sightseeing spot before the war, but today the citizens were occupied by the parade and other festivities in the city. This would allow Spitfire and Luna time to themselves. Only a skeleton crew remained on the ship, and for the most part they were busy working. Signals Intelligence specifically was busy trying to find out how the attack on Manehatten had happened without anypony knowing beforehand, and what exactly that Saddle Arabian passport that had been found- a few days earlier in Baltimare, meant. The Night Guard had looked it over, but they were stumped too. The Saddle Arabians had never made any overt threats, and didn't seem to friendly with the Griffons either, it was a perplexing find.
Spitfire had her own mystery she hoped to solve: why did the Night Guard see fit to commission such a huge vessel of war during peacetime? She knew full well it was unwise to look a gift battlecarrier in the mouth, but this question had been pestering her for some time. Celestia had flatly denied explaining it, but perhaps Luna would be more forthcoming.
Checking her watch, she noted it was a minute to noon. Luna was scheduled to arrive at noon on the dot, she was as punctual as Spitfire. Adjusting her uniform, straightening her badge and insignia, she slicked her hair back and waited. Sixty seconds later a gleam in the sky heralded the arrival of the Princess of the Night, whom was up rather late today. If Spitfire was judging right, she had to shift her schedule to keep up with the war, and was delegating most of the Night Guard duties to her second.
Spitfire didn't have a second, the closest would be Captain Northstar, whom was in charge of the Magnificent when Spitifire was otherwise occupied. She preferred to run the show herself, but didn't disrespect Luna for running hers differently.
Princess Luna came to the ground at the bottom of the ramp, and strode up with dignity towards Spitfire.
"Princess Luna!" Spitfire addressed, saluting smartly.
"Air Martial Spitfire, at ease," Luna said, replying with a nod.
"I have been eager to see this vessel, not even I knew of its existence until recently," She said, coming up before Spitfire.
Spitfire turned and led her down the 'street' that ran along the centre of the deck. "Really? I would have thought you of all ponies would know about it," She commented.
"Alas no. Its existence was buried deep in the archives, and I had only just begun catching up on ancient history when I was informed of its existence. They fought quite hard against me giving it to you, you know," Luna said, glancing around at the buildings as they passed.
"Are all of these buildings crewed? It seems more like a city then a warship," She noted.
Spitfire reached into her uniform for a pamphlet, and handed it back to Luna. "Most of them are quarters or mechanical, but we also have all the elements of a modern army up here," She said, and pointed forward to one of the taller buildings in the middle of the deck. "We even have our own signals intelligence up here, in fact most of Cloudsdale lives here now."
"Ah, intelligence. The fine art of keeping your enemy blind while you see everything, I imagine they have their work cut out for them, the scale of intelligence failures thus far in this war is disturbing," She said, skimming through the pamphlet. In it she would find all the important details of the ship and her crew, Spitfire put it together personally.
"I quite agree, and I'll ensure that Manehatten is not repeated. As soon as we get over the ocean we'll be fighting on our terms- not theirs," Spitfire said.
Luna put a hoof on her shoulder and halted the pair, slipping the document in her armour. "Spitfire, be careful you don't take on this burden entirely by yourself- you'll burn out. This is a national effort, don't forget that we have each others backs," She said.
Spitfire turned to her. "I understand, but the Wonderbolts are the only ones capable of taking the lead on this, and that actually brings me to a point- we need a ground force," Spitfire said.
"Yes, I understand you've been discussing the matter of creating a 'Marine Corps' with the Field Martial, if you're expecting me to go around his back and order it done your way, you're sorely mistaken. I couldn't even if I wanted to, you know full well he could veto that unless my sister backed me- and you know full well she won't," Luna said.
Spitfire nodded. "I do, but we both know the solution to that."
"Regency," They both said at once.
"Would the others follow though?" Spitfire asked.
"I am not certain. Field Martial Armour would probably vote for his own wife, but if she decided to vote for me then it would make two votes in our pocket. Twilight Sparkle remains an unknown, and my sisters vote will either be for herself or an abstention," Luna said.
"What about the General?" Spitfire asked.
"He'll vote for Celestia, of that I am certain. His loyalty to her is as total as it is misplaced," Luna replied.
"So if we convince Princess Cadence, her husband, and Twilight..." Spitfire said
"Then, and only then, will the vote be called. If it is to be called then I must be assured to win, or it would only lead to instability," Luna said.
Spitfire nodded, and continued back down the road. "I don't think Twilight will need much convincing, and we only need to remind the Princess and the Field Martial about the loss at the Crystal Empire. If we can convince them that you're best suited to bring them justice, then we'll have it," She said.
"You seem quite eager to support me, almost to the point of disloyalty to Princess Celestia- that's not the case, is it?" Luna asked from behind, a threat hidden in her slightly deepened voice.
"No, no I j-" Luna cut Spitfire off, her voice seeming to cut into her head from behind. "Good, as long as she remains Princess you will follow the orders of my sister as you would me, to whatever end, understood?" Luna demanded,
Spitfire spun on her heals and did a quick salute. "Yes ma'am!" She responded, almost subconsciously.
"Good," Luna said. "I am eager to see where the power for this vessel is generated, so please lead the way to your engineering deck," She ordered.
Spitfire nodded and led her to one of the buildings, spinning open a large door to reveal a dim stairway that led into the bowels of the ship. Luna had to duck down to enter, but managed to retain her grace in doing so.
"Rather cramped in here," Luna noted. "Is the engineering crew all pegasi?" She asked.
"They are yes, mostly cadets," Spitfire replied as she opened the door at the bottom.
"That seems inefficient, shouldn't the fliers be... flying?"
Spitfire swung door open and glanced back. "I agree, but we don't have the horsepower for that, perhaps if we h-"
"You've already made it quite clear that you want additional support, but the Legion is stretched thin too. What we need is a draft," Luna said, stepping after her into the wide, low, hallway beyond.
"How many could we draft? Field Marshal Shining wouldn't tell me," Spitfire asked.
"Fifty thousand in the first round, potentially as many as half a million but that would basically put the entire adult population at war, I would rather we not go that far," Luna said.
"That's almost half of what we have now, it would certainly help," Spitfire said, leading her down the seemingly endless hallway.
"Don't get to ambitious just yet. Remember the reserves had basic training- conscripts have nothing," Luna warned.
"Still, we could move our trained units to the front, and use conscripts for logistics and grease monkey work, more hooves on deck is always good," Spitfire noted.
"Agreed, now how long is this hallway?" Luna asked.
"It goes around the rim of the entire ship underneath, but the engine room isn't far ahead," Spitfire replied, gesturing upwards at a growing series of pipes.
Luna nodded, and they trotted amongst the hum of machinery for a bit before coming on a pair of great steel doors that separated the pale blue hallway from the great machinery that powered it all. Spitfire paused for a second to grin at Luna, and then quickly opened the doors. Pushing them inside she strode in, the deep green light of powered alicornium streaming back into the hallway. Luna followed her, and the doors slammed themselves shut quickly thereafter- an important safety measure. If anything happened to the engine it was designed so that it would sacrifice itself and drop right out of the bottom of the ship; the whole room was sealed as a separate compartment. The alicornium was the important part, and could recovered from the wreckage, a second generator is much easier to build then having to rebuild the entire ship if the engine ever went up.
Spitfire never stopped being in awe of the main generator, a gigantic device nearly a story tall covered with thick steel, inside of which a kilogram of alicornium slowly burnt to boil water, which in turn powered a turbine and created more power then most cities of Equestria. It was too bad the mineral was so rare; this kilogram represented a half years supply, and the Crystal Empire had only recently returned allowing for more to be mined. Equestria had a total of ten kilograms in reserve, and one would power the Magnificent for a year. If anypony ever figured out how to release the energy contained in the material at once, instead of slowly, the world itself could be cracked open.
The green glow was a byproduct of the magical energy being given off, and was entirely harmless. Unicorns of ancient times had used the material in weapons to strengthen the user, the most famous of which was Starswirls staff- entirely made of it.
A skeleton crew kept watch on a few dials here and there, and were too busy to notice the pair entering the room. The great hum of the machine meant most of them wore ear protection for their own safety, and if the ship started cruising the turbine would create a cacophonous noise. The alicornium itself was entirely safe, but the machinery powered by it required continued maintenance and inspection to ensure the engine didn't tear itself apart.
"It's absolutely beautiful, I could not have imagined such a thing, how much power does it produce?" Luna asked.
"Twenty megawatts at full load, although it only takes five or six to power the ship on standby like this," Spitfire said sticking her chest out with pride.
"Amazing. Once the war is won we'll have to start using this technology in the civilian sector, the possibilities are endless," Luna said, and slowly trotted towards the machine, looking up at it with awe.
Spitfire got the attention of one of the cadets, and he pulled down a lever. A small panel covering the generator opened up, and Spitfire pointed at it.
"You can have a look inside, if you want," She suggested.
Luna nodded and approached it, "I would like nothing more," She said, and ducked down to peer inside the thick glass panel. Inside she could clearly see the glowing green sphere of alicornium, surrounded by water. At the top there was a series of holes through which the steam would rise, and somewhere above there the turbine perpetually spun. The alicornium itself had a curious look, it was a strange silver that seemed to be reflective, but the reflection was, to try and find some sort of fitting description: not of this world. It seemed to reflect strange coloured stars despite being encapsulated in a great machine.
Her curiosity sated, Luna closed the porthole and turned back to Spitfire, who stood proudly near the door.
"Fascinating, now let us depart for the hanger, I want to see these 'Pheonix' craft," Luna ordered. Spitfire nodded and led her back out into the hallway, and up another access passage to the deck. The hanger was the majority of the vessals volume, and from a distance appeared like a gigantic metal balloon that hung over the deck. Most thought this contained some sort of gas that lifted the craft, and it was designed to appear so. The griffons hadn't figured it out yet, and had been wasting their efforts shooting at what was essentially an armored hollow building. Spitfire gestured up at it when they were outside.
"There's a dozen of them housed up there, there's no access ladders, so we'll have to fly up," She said.
"Lead the way then," Luna said, and opened her wings.
Spitfire nodded and did the same, leading the pair upwards to a catwalk that ran the along the bottom, shortly ahead was a door that led inside. Opening it Spitfire struggled for a second as the air inside blew it back, and she stepped inside. Luna closed it behind her with absolutely no effort.
Spitfire hid her amazement, the door in itself weighed a few hundred pounds, but the wind added to that. She didn't even use magic, Luna just grabbed the thing and closed it like it was nothing.
This was who should be running the war, somepony unafraid of showing their strength.
Spitfire opened the second door, and beckoned Luna forward into the hanger, closing it behind her herself. It creaked shut and then she turned to look at the bay, with five black ships lined up on either side of the dotted runway. The hanger was closed at the moment, but a few spotlights on the ceiling highlighted them. Otherwise, it was dark as night.
"So these are the craft that have seen an entire island leveled, correct?" Luna asked, trotting over to inspect one while Spitfire followed.
She was referring to the flattening of an island east of Baltimare that the Griffons had used to launch long range rockets at the city. One of the first tasks was to clear it, and by Luna was it cleared.
"That's right, we haven't done much with them since then, but they stand ready to do it again," Spitfire replied.
Luna walked around one- Pheonix 9, while Spitfire watched. She inspected every inch of the wing shaped vessel before turning back to the Air Martial.
"I imagine it's powered by alicornium?" She asked, staring down its wide rear jets.
"That's right, each one has a stick of a hundred grams that powers the levitation magic- tends to overheat the metal though," Spitfire replied.
Luna nodded, and came back to Spitfire. "I see, we'll have to correct that in the future, we've begun working on plans for a conventional version," she said.
"You are?" Spitfire asked, amazed and excited to hear that something even more high tech was in the works.
"We are, using something called a 'jet engine', but it will be years before a practical design is made. By then I very much hope we aren't still at war," She explained, and gestured to the end of the runway. Spitfire's personal craft- the Hurricane, could be seen. About as large as the Pheonix's, it was instead designed as a personal transport with room for about a half dozen passengers and a tonne of cargo. It retained the wing shape, but was much thinner. Its only armament was a small gun under a hidden panel, this along with the thin armour meant it would be unwise to get into a fight with it.
This was no major problem, since there wasn't anybody in the world that could touch this sort of technology in the first place. Frankly Spitfire wondered why they bothered to arm it at all, it was like a bit of science fiction had come to life.
"I imagine that's the Hurricane, I've heard a lot about it," Luna said.
Spitfire sighed, "She's beautiful, I could cross the ocean in a half day with her, absolutely amazing," She said, gazing lovingly at it.
She really did love it, and would often go out alone just to experience the thrill of flying it. This was more of an art then a science, as the numerous levers and sticks that were required to move a vehicle in three dimensions required constant attention, and a very agile pilot. Spitfire was quite good at it, and could probably thread a needle with the Hurricane if she needed to.
Luna grinned and patted her on the back. "I'm glad to hear you got your pick of the litter," she said.
She put a hoof to her chin and then lit up, galloping over to one of the Phoenixes.
"Air Martial, I have had a sudden flash of insight, come over here!" Luna shouted frantically. Spitfire quickly came to her side and found her pointing at the ships undercarriage.
"Put a camera in the bay, and fly it over the enemy. We could spy on them from such a distance they could do nothing to stop us; we would see everything."
She paused to consider this for a moment. "Well, actually I suppose we would only be able to see larger objects, or buildings, but it's a significant gain. Imagine knowing exactly how exactly the enemy force before engaging, and their formation," she added.
"If we knew the placement, it would greatly aid in planning," Spitfire said.
Luna nodded. "I only hope the griffons don't possess this technology too, they've surprised us in the past, they may well do it again," she said.
"We're prepared for anything they can throw at us," Spitfire boasted.
Luna laughed, and took her by the shoulder, gesturing at the assembled power in the hanger.
"I admire the enthusiasm, but no amount of technology, weapons, or hubris makes you invincible. We're all mortal, remember that," Luna warned.
She released Spitfire and glanced at the nearby doorway. "With that, I think I will take my leave, I will rest assured the fleet, and its flag, are in good hands," Luna said.
Spitfire coughed, and Luna frowned at the obvious call for attention.
"If you want to say something, just say it, Air Martial," She ordered.
"Princess Luna, I was wondering if you could tell me just why this ship was built in the first place- it's remained a mystery," She asked.
"In due time, I fear the truth would cause... complications right now. Do your duty, and forget about it," She said, a slant of threat in the final words.
Spitfire reluctantly saluted. "Yes ma'am, will do ma'am," she said.
Luna met her salute, and went to open the door.
"Good, the best officer knows their place- remember that," She said, and left Spitfire in the hanger.
She sighed, disappointed at the lack of explanation. It just didn't add up- why in Celestia's name did they see fit to build a giant battlecarrier, with stealth aircraft the likes of which had been only on the outskirts of imagination, and then never do anything with it? They couldn't possibly have built it as a 'just in case' measure, it would have been public knowledge then; as a warning to anybody that might attack. And why stealth, there was no defensive use for these craft- they were purely offensive in their role. If Spitfire didn't know otherwise, she would almost think Equestria wanted to invade somebody.
With a shake of her head, she cleared the idea. It was the simplest answer- but raised questions of it's own. The most obvious was who scared the leadership enough for them to commission this. The griffons hadn't made any overt threats, the Zebras had been on good terms for centuries, and the Saddle Arabians were on the other side of the ocean, too far for any meaningful contact. The independent states weren't any real threat, and that only left...
The changelings.
Spitfire gasped, and leaned against the wall to think on this revelation. It explained everything. The need for stealth, the massive size, the plan must have been to totally destroy the entire hive. The question now was what had sparked such an idea, generally Celestia had maintained a rough peace with the changelings, allowing them to exist while ensuring they stayed out of Equestria. What had they done to make the Night Guard build all this?
Startled almost out of her skin by a light touch on her shoulder, she spun around to see a bat pony in the dark, subtly glowing eyes staring at her.
"Good afternoon," She said before Spitfire could react, and came out of the dark. She was old, quite old, and wore armour at least as old as herself. "My name is Mezza Luna, and I have an offer to make."
Spitfire took a second to collect herself, feeling her fur stand on end as she was intensely creeped out by the grinning bat gazing at her.
"What would that be?" She asked.
Mezza Luna pointed towards one of the Pheonix's.
"Give us one of them, and we'll give you the missiles we've designed," She offered.
Spitfire considered this for a moment before replying. "If I recall correctly, we're due to receive those missiles anyway, and what could you possibly want with a Pheonix?" She returned.
"What we do with it is no concern, and as for that... well let's just say accidents happen."
"Is that a threat? I could have you arrested for treason right now, Princess Luna would be dis-"
"Who's she going to believe 'air martial'? Her second in command, or a pegasus with delusions of power? She already clearly suspects you of wanting more power- how about I make sure she finds proof?" Mezza threatened.
Spitfire stared her down, but didn't see any way out of this. If the Night Guard turned against her they could ruin her in an instant. Something strange was going on here, but for now there was no way for Spitfire to act against it.
"Why not put this through official channels?" Spitfire asked.
"I would rather certain parties not know about this, and I assume I can be sure you won't be chatty about our little deal, will you?"
"I wasn't aware we had made a deal yet, but yes," Spitfire replied.
"Oh I think we do, take the Pheonix Two to the Hollow Shades as soon as you can, and my people will take from there," Mezza said, and backed into the darkness.
"Why the Pheonix Two?" Spitfire asked. She was met with silence, and a few moments later a door some ways away clanked open, and then shut.
Spitfire sat on the floor, and rubbed her forehead. Her hooves seemed to be tied here- there was nobody she could go to that wouldn't expect her of simply making this up to discredit the Night Guard, she had been quite vocal of her opposition to them remaining independent, instead of part of the Wonderbolts or even the Legion.
In any case, as strange as the deal seemed, they were still on the same side. Whatever their need for a stealth craft may be, it was surely against the griffons. The fleet did need those missiles too, otherwise they would have a hard fight ahead of them when the fighting turned to the oceanic islands. Spitfire steeled herself to her task, and quickly boarded the Phoenix Two. She had the authority to take it out, and if anybody asked where it went she could simply tell them it was in for repairs, or transferred to a different ship. The fleet was her personal responsibility, and it would be easy enough to cover up. The Night Guard would probably do their own coverup too.
Slipping herself into the pilots seat she flicked the switches to start the engine, and was greeted with the low hum of the powerful turbine and jets. Going through the basic pre-flight she noticed something strange, the flight time meter- which tracked the total time the engine was powered on, was a few dozen hours ahead of where it should be. Spitfire knew exactly how many flights these craft had gone on, and they always went as a group. She also knew that there was no way somepony could take one out without her knowing about it, so theft was an impossibility. No, somepony must have flown it before the Wonderbolts had received them, but why, and when?
Spitfire sighed, and put on the headset to contact flight control. Just another question to add to the every growing pile. War was supposed to be simple- find and crush your enemy. This was proving to be anything but.
Flicking a switch to turn the radio on, Spitfire adjusted the headset and spoke into the microphone.
"Magnificent Flight Control, this is Pheonix Two, Please respond."
A short burst of static later the reply came. "This is flight control, you're not cleared for any flights today- who is this?" The controller demanded.
"This is Air Martial Spitfire, and I'm clearing myself for immediate departure.
There was a short pause before he replied. "Uh, you've got no flight plan registered- protco-"
"Damn the protocol, if you don't open these doors I'll come up there and open them myself!" Spitfire yelled into the mic.
Another short pause. "Uhh, roger that ma'am... I'll have to log this though."
"What's your name and rank?" Spitfire asked.
"Pilot Officer Beacon ma'am," he replied.
"Well, Officer Beacon, there will be no log, and this conversation is classified top secret, you got that?" Spitfire barked.
"Uh, yes ma'am!" He replied, and with a great clank the doors at the end of the hanger began to open. "You're clear for immediate departure ma'am," He said.
Spitfire gently moved the craft forward and pointed it down the runway. Throwing the throttle forward the Phoenix shot forward, and crushed her in the seat. She was quite eager to get this cloak and dagger idiocy done with and put it behind her. A half minute later she shot out of the magnificent and Spitfire pulled it straight into the sky. High enough to see all the way to the Crystal Empire, she turned it north and set in for the few hours it would take to reach the Hollow Shades. Outside was a beautiful cloudless afternoon, but a dark cloud hung over Spitfire. She settled in for the journey, and turned on the radio. Nothing but smooth jazz.
The Hollow Shades was her destination, a strange place indeed. It was the only place outside of the Canterlot Mountain where you could find Bat Ponies, and was their industrial base- firing coal underground was rather unwise. It was here where most of the new weapons were produced, and it sat under a perpetual fake night created by magic. The history of the place was hazy, but Spitfire was fairly certain it was first founded a thousand years ago, as a way to give the bats the eternal night they so desired. Once she came within sight of it, she noticed a line of lights in a patch of cleared trees. A runway, clever.
Spitfire lowered the throttle and extended the flaps, nosing the craft down towards the runway ahead with the sun starting its low descent in the distance. As she lowered, so did it, and when the wheels touched down on the runway she found herself in the middle of the night, a neat trick of magic. At the end a series of lights beckoned her forward, and she came to a halt before a landed barge and a dozen bat ponies, gazing at the ship with awe. Spitfire sighed, and patted the board after shutting down the engine. One less Phoenix.
When Spitfire opened the hatch to leave, she found the bat's had already started draping a tarp over the ship. One of them waited outside for her, and when she jumped down from the ship that bat addressed her.
"You've done a good turn for the Night Guard, there's a dozen missiles in the barge here, and you'll get more as we make them," He said, gesturing back at it.
"Good, now what exactly do you want with this, why all the secrecy?" Spitfire demanded, hoping to get something out of him.
He simply grinned. "All in good time, Martial. We'll take it from here, I suggest you head home and forget about all this," He said, and pushed past Spitfire with a quick salute.
Spitfire shook her head and flew over to the barge, it was a moldy old wooden airship of the same type that had been flying around for decades, and below the deck a rack of a dozen gleaming metal cylinders were stored, along with a few dozen booklets labelled "ATA1 AND YOU- GIVE EM HELL" Spitfire took one with her above decks, and cut the ballast. As it rose into the sky the fake night faded, and she burst through into the mid afternoon. She then turned the barge south, and propped the wheel up with a stick. It would be a good half day before she arrived at Canterlot. leaving Spitfire plenty of time to learn how to operate these weapons. She decided to take this day as a victory, with these the Wonderbolts could finally take the offensive against the griffon fleet, and they would be ready to proceed with the final steps of the liberation of Baltimare. Putting all the questions in her mind behind her, she focused on that. Within days they would finally have the Griffons off the continent, and the real war would begin.
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Me personally would have said bring it bitch but I got problems when it comes to people who wanna think they got me beat. I am stubborn as hell too. I also got that one thing where you hate people bossing you around I can't remember what its called though. Don't take this as me disliking it in your story so much but as me just being a glutton for punishment.
I really dislike the Night Guard by now.
They act like they can do everything and get away with it. I really hope that there will some sort of payback.
Minor error correction:
Dpzens of islands
Dozens of islands
to lead.As much
to lead. As much
closest would he Captain
closest would be Captain
In any case, I wonder what the Night Guard have planned. They are certainly operating outside of their own bounds at this point--which were pretty loosely defined to begin with--and I can't imagine Luna will be pleased with her Commander or Air Martial Spitfire. I can see someone having rank pulled in the future. As the old adage goes: and the plot thickens.
Wonderbolt's
I suspect posessives vs. plurals is something you should work on paying more conscious attention to, since you slip up on that fairly regularly. (And yes, the chapter also has lots of "it's" that should be "its".)
Color me slightly confused here. If anything indicated that we'd jumped ahead massively in time, I missed it, but if not, when did this happen?
I don't know if you mean for Luna to be ignorant of industrialized warfare, but you can't put the entire adult population at the armed forces, because in a situation like this the output of factories that are making the shells, and ships, and weapons is just as important as your actual manpower (or pony power), so even in an extreme case you can't draft everypony, or the whole thing falls apart. Back in the day when you could round up your peasants and put an improvised pole arm in everybody's hands you could (so perhaps that's why Luna says this) but a modern army can't work that way, not even in extreme circumstances.
Well, that's ominous!
Another confusing reference to something I haven't seen happen yet. Possibly consider re-ordering chapters?
She was just talking to Luna, why can't she go there? This bit is... weird to me. It seems wildly out of character for Spitfire. She's not the kind of pony to actively help a pony that tried to threaten her. I'd suggest reworking this section a bit, honestly. Surely there's something Mezza can say that would convince Spitfire? I mean she herself uses the "we're on the same side, it'll be used against the gryphons" argument, I'd find her caving to that argument in Mezza's mouth more believable than caving to a threat. We're not talking about an easily cowed, insecure pony here, this is Spitfire.
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...let's go with your idea.
Peerhaaaps. Added to the pile of points to consider.
I dunno what it is with me and posession. I get it, but I write as if I don't? Dumb brain.
Anyway, yes these chapters we're actually written out of order and that's a significant problem for this one in particular, I just never realized it. If I know how to juggle them around I certainly would. I could replace the text, but that would make all comments suddenly nonsensical.
Basically I had the ideas and titles all at once, but completed different ones a time. Like most of my stories, this began as experiment- to tell a tale of tales, a story of stories.
I think I'm just going to add a few lines to hopefulyl clear it up.
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If I remember right, it wasn't so much that they were special- just that they needed them- right now. Equestria had no means of long-range combat without them
I think, I need to re-read this thing.