Ace Combat: The Equestrian War

by PolishValsion

Chapter 3: First Flight

Amidst the blue skies, the heroines begin their mission.

Yet one of them is reluctant to fight.

Is it fear or uncertainty? Can she overcome her doubts?

To protect others is what her heart desires.

Chapter 3

"First Flight”

October 14th, 2018
0830 hrs
Cloudsdale, Mirage squadron’s baseIt took Firefly a couple of days to get to know each of her new friends. She instantly took a liking toward Lightning Bolt, seeing her as a really smart pony with a knack for technology, just as she claimed. Cloud Kicker proved to be a joyful pegasus, who could lift up the morale of others with a simple smile and never left Lightning Bolt’s side.

However, Firefly was still not sure about Fluttershy being a part of the team. She thought of her as “too kind to be a fighter.” The yellow pegasus was just speaking with Rainbow Dash about it.

“Um... Rainbow, I think Firefly... doesn’t enjoy my company. Do you think she-”

But before she could finish, Rainbow Dash turned to her.

“Don’t let her get to you. She needs to get to know you better. Firefly may say whatever she wants, but our team would not be complete without you, Fluttershy. I’m sure Lightning and Cloud would agree with me.”

Fluttershy was still uncertain.

“But, she’s our... leader, Rainbow. If she says I’m not fitting the team... then... maybe... I should leave...”

“You won’t leave, as long as I have something to say in that matter, Fluttershy,” said Rainbow.

“She may be our leader, but everypony in the team is equal. Our opinions matter. You should stop worrying so much.”

Before Fluttershy could respond, Firefly’s voice could be heard echoing from the distance:

“Hey, you! What are you doing here?! You don’t have permission to enter our base! Leave now or face the consequences!”

The two pegasi looked at each other.

“Do you think we’re under attack, Rainbow?”

“Nah, somehow I don’t think so. Still, we should check it out.”

They flew outside to see Firefly yelling toward a big purple balloon that started approaching their base.

“What’s with all the fuss, Firefly?”, Rainbow asked the pink pegasus.

“Don’t you see? We have an intruder. And it doesn’t seem to be responding to my calls.”

Rainbow took a closer look at the balloon. She’d seen it before, and so did Fluttershy, who said:

“Um... I don’t think that’s an enemy, Firefly. We... I mean, Rainbow and I know who might be in that balloon.”

Firefly turned to Fluttershy.

“Then tell me; who could be coming here at this time?”

Instead of responding, the yellow pegasus flew toward the balloon with a smile. When she got close, she said:

“Rarity, what brings you here?”

The head of a white unicorn with a purple mane appeared in the basket of the balloon. She seemed to be slightly uncertain.

“I’ve brought something for everypony here, but I can’t land. That pink pegasus... Firefly, was it? She says I don’t have a permission.”

“I’ll take care of this issue,” Fluttershy assured her.

She went back to Rainbow and Firefly to tell them about the visitor. Initially, Firefly still looked suspiciously at the balloon, but after a while, she agreed to let it land. When Rarity got out of it, she easily stood on the clouds, surprising everypony... except for Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who’d seen it before.

==========

“It’s Twilight’s magic. She casted a cloud walk spell on me, so that I could come and give you this,” Rarity explained.

She then used her own magic to bring up a small chest from the balloon basket and opened it before the five pegasi. They looked at the content in awe: inside, there were five vests, each colored differently, but all of them were bearing a symbol of a sun and moon fused together on an orange and dark, starry background.

“Wow, those look great!” Lightning Bolt exclaimed. “Are those for us, Rarity?”

“Indeed, darling,” the unicorn responded.

“I thought that since you’re all a team, maybe you could use these vests that I’ve been making for the past two days. Each of them is colored-coded for your convenience. The pink one will be Firefly’s, the blue one belongs to Rainbow Dash, the white one is for you, Lightning Bolt, the violet one goes to Cloud Kicker, and the yellow one will be Fluttershy’s. Go ahead, try them on!”

As Rarity helped the pegasi put on their vests, they looked at them with excitement. Cloud Kicker noticed they all had the same symbol on them and asked the unicorn what it meant.

“This symbol you see is the flag of Equestria. The sun and moon represent day and night, respectively. Princesses Celestia and Luna decided to make it look like that, because they said that they will guide our way,” Rarity told the team.

Everypony reflected quietly upon that, but Firefly merely approached Rarity and gave the white unicorn a friendly grin.

“Sorry for that earlier misunderstanding. That’s very generous of you, making those vests for us. Thanks.”

Rarity smiled.

“Well, it’s somewhat of my duty as the Element of Generosity, after all.”

Firefly widened her eyes in question.

“Element of... what?”

Cloud Kicker came closer to her.

“Come on, don’t tell us you never heard about the Elements of Harmony! Even me and Lightning Bolt know that old legend.”

“Then maybe you could fill me up on it-”

When the pink pegasus suggested it, despite, naturally, knowing that legend, like every pony in Equestria, suddenly the alarm siren went off. Firefly quickly flew toward the main room, which the pegasi called “Mission Control.” It contained several devices that allowed them to determine the location of upcoming enemies and receive messages from other ponies.

Firefly stood there for a while, apparently reading out data, and then turned to the others.

“Or you can do it while we’ll be on our way. Gale just sent a message. It says that some griffins are moving in toward Hoofington.”

“Do we know what they’re up to?” Lightning Bolt asked.

“He’s still working on that, but whatever it is, it can’t be good. Everypony, assemble at the main runway. It’s time for our first flight!”

They all followed Firefly, but Fluttershy was still reluctant to go. Rarity saw that.

“Darling, you should hurry. You don’t want to be left behind, do you?”

“No...” Fluttershy responded quietly. “But something inside me... I don’t know, I just think... that it’s not right. This war shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

Rarity approached Fluttershy and gave her a friendly smile.

“What you do, you do to protect Equestria. Don’t forget that, Fluttershy. The safety of many creatures depends on you. I know you have it in you. You would never let anyone harm your friends, right?”

Fluttershy shook her head, but didn’t said a word. She appeared confused.

“Just go with them. You’ll be fine. Believe in yourself and the others,” Rarity advised Fluttershy.

The yellow pegasus soon followed the rest of the team.

Rarity did too, as she got back in the balloon, about to return to Ponyville, but not before seeing Firefly and the others take off.

“Alright, team! Let’s do some standard start-up procedures before we go!” Firefly announced to her wingmates.

She then gave each of them a small device with a microphone and an ocular that displayed various indicators, including speed and altitude - a communicator.

“When you report something through it” - saying this, the pink pegasus pointed her hoof at the device she had on her left ear, and which the other ponies also put on - “be sure to state your call sign. We should be doing this to avoid confusion. OK?”

The other ponies agreed and prepared for takeoff. “Alright, then! Testing!” Firefly turned her communicator on.

“This is Flash, speaking. Is everypony ready?”

The rest of the team started responding.

“Rainbow here! Everything’s A-OK.”

“This is Thunder. Ready to fly!”

“Sunny reporting! Read you loud and clear!”

“Butterfly here. I’m OK.”

“Good, that’s the way you do it, team,” Firefly praised her wingmates.

“OK, Mirage squadron, to the skies!”

Saying this, all five pegasi started running and within a few seconds, spread their wings and took flight. Rainbow Dash flew by Firefly’s side in the center, with Lightning Bolt and Cloud Kicker by the sides. Fluttershy remained in the back.

Rarity watched them as they took off and begun heading in the direction of Hoofington. It was quite far, and nothing about the griffins’ movements were certain. But the white unicorn remained optimistic.

“Good luck everypony... be careful out there,” she thought to herself, before making the balloon descend back to Ponyville.

The Mirage squadron soon vanished from her sight.

==========

1040 hrs
Equestrian airspace, en route to Hoofington

As the pegasi were making their way toward one of the farthest pony towns on the east, Firefly spoke to her friends.

“So, can you fill me up about those Elements of Harmony?”

“Sure we can, but I’m surprised you haven’t heard of them, Firefly,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Gimme a break. I haven’t been in Equestria for five years. Did something really major happened when I was away?” “It sure did. Long story short, Fluttershy and I were a part of a team who defeated the ancient Mare in the Moon – Nightmare Moon. We were chosen due to our spirits representing the Elements of Harmony. I’m the spirit of Loyalty, while Fluttershy is the spirit of Kindness. Rarity, that you’ve seen earlier, is the spirit of Generosity. There’s also Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle; they represent Honesty, Laughter and Magic. All of us six together used the power of the Elements to purge Nightmare Moon and save Equestria from eternal night. And when later Discord had broken free of his stone prison, we had a lot of problems with him, but eventually managed to turn him back to granite. If it weren’t for Twilight, though, we could have not make it.”

A brief silence ensued, and only the howling wind could be heard for a few seconds. The pink pegasus tried to collect her thoughts. Did Rainbow just said that she and her friends defeated both Nightmare Moon and Discord, the god of Chaos? Firefly finally said:

“Yeah... I find that hard to believe, though.”

Lightning Bolt moved closer to her. “I thought you’d say something like that. Cloud Kicker and I heard about the legend, but we didn’t really believe in it. That is, until the day we saw Princess Luna alongside Princess Celestia in Ponyville. After we witnessed Nightmare Moon coming back, we came to the conclusion that Luna was possessed by some kind of evil power... We don’t how it worked exactly, but what Rainbow Dash says is true,” the white pegasus assured

Silence fell again for a short moment. Firefly remembered the stained-glass windows she saw in the castle. Perhaps they were indeed showing Rainbow and her friends. She then remarked:

“Well, truth or not, I’m sure both Rainbow and Fluttershy have talents that will help us in this war. I’m counting on all of you, though. Remember, we’re a team and need to work together.”

“Roger that!” other ponies responded. Within the next thirty minutes, they were finally approaching Hoofington’s airspace. It would seem that the griffins hadn’t showed up yet. The pegasi took a look below them and saw the town, prospering with life as usual...

“They appear to know nothing about the upcoming attack. Maybe we should leave it like this,” Cloud Kicker suggested.

“Definitely a good idea,” Firefly agreed. “Let’s see... We might be able to ambush the griffins easily. We’ll wait for them in the clouds. Thunder and Sunny, you take the left side. Rainbow and Butterfly, the right side is yours.”

“And what will you do, Flash?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well, somepony’s gotta take the middle...” Firefly responded.

The pegasus ponies started to hide in the clouds and wait for the upcoming enemies. Lightning Bolt had a small detector with her that allowed them to know the exact numbers of attackers and their destination. She took a moment to analyze it.

“Five bogies detected at vector 205, closing in. Altitude 7,000 feet and decreasing. They’re coming”, she reported.

“Stay on your positions, everypony. We’ll wait for them, and then attack,” Firefly ordered.

As time was passing by, Fluttershy approached Rainbow Dash and whispered to her.

“Rainbow, can I have word with you?”

“Er... now’s not the best time, Fluttershy,” the rainbow pegasus answered.

“I know... but... I need to tell you something... I’m a little scared... and uncertain. I don’t think we should be doing this. Isn’t there a peaceful way to solve this conflict? I mean...”

Rainbow turned her sight at Fluttershy.

“Look, I know what you’re trying to say, Fluttershy. But this is reality. We’re at war with the griffins. And they don’t seem to want any negotiations.”

She saw that Fluttershy was still unsure. She leaned closer to her.

“Just stay close to me, and nothing will happen to you. OK?”

“O-OK.”

“Here they come!” Firefly’s voice sounded in the communicators. “Get ready.”As told by Lightning Bolt, five griffins came up.

They weren’t the Talon squadron that Firefly and Rainbow Dash fought against a few days back, but they, too, were wearing vests with numbers on them, meaning it could be a different team of aces. The vests were colored blue and had numbers 7-12.

One of them, bearing number 10, stopped, and the rest did the same.

“I think we just arrived in Hoofington airspace. You know what to do,” his voice sounded harsh.

“But sir,” the griffon with number 8 asked, “is that really necessary?” “We don’t question the orders from our superiors, Axe. I don’t like the idea of kidnapping fillies and using them as hostages, either... I mean, that’s not the warrior’s way. But an order is an order, and we must execute it!”

==========Firefly and her team were shocked when they overheard the griffins talking. They would resolve to kidnap little ponies and use them as hostages? This angered Rainbow Dash greatly, and she was about to attack, but Firefly motioned to her to stay put and wait for the occasion.

“In any case,” griffon with #10 continued, “we should check the area before we begin.”

His eyes glanced at the clouds around.

“Our intelligence believes a group of pegasus ponies may be on their way to intercept us.”

“But there isn’t anyone here,” the griffon with #12 argued.

“We should stop wasting time and get to work. The sooner we start, the sooner we’ll return to base.”

The leader turned to his comrade.

“Something’s wrong, Greyback? Don’t tell me you’re scared of those pegasi.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Zeakros! But you, of all griffins, should know how unreliable our intelligence can be!”

“Need I remind you what happened to the Talon squadron?” Zeakros pointed out.

“We should scout the area before we begin our mission. To make sure the enemy won’t ambush us.”

“That won’t be necessary, fellas! You already fell for our trap!”Firefly’s exclaim was a signal for the Mirage squadron to reveal itself from the clouds. The griffins were taken completely by surprise.

“We heard everything! There’s no way in hay we’ll let your plan of kidnapping fillies work!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

Zeakros turned to her.

“It’s not like we enjoy that order... But, it’s our duty. We will not let you, wimpy ponies, stop us. Northwind squadron, assume battle formation!” he ordered to his wingmen.

In a matter of moments, they formed a characteristic V-shaped formation and prepared for attack. Firefly signaled for other ponies to form a similar pattern, and take each of the griffins by themselves. Lightning Bolt and Cloud Kicker took on griffon with #7 on his vest and Axe.

They fought with equal strength, but despite their raw power, the griffins could not compare to Lightning Bolt’s swiftness. She repeatedly rushed toward her foes with Cloud Kicker attacking from the other side, confusing her opponents. Within a few moments, both feathered warriors seemed to be worn out. Lightning figured that now would be the best time to try out her new trick.

She then nodded toward Cloud. The purple flier returned the nod. Lightning Bolt started moving at high speed toward the griffins, zig-zaging in a rapid succession. It made her resemble an actual lightning. Cloud Kicker circled around Axe and #8, confusing them more. They didn’t notice Lightning Bolt ramming into them with intense force. She was aided by Cloud in the attack. Both soldiers took heavy damage and decided to retreat. The two pegasi clashed their hooves, as a “high-five.”

“That was awesome, Lightning Bolt!” Cloud Kicker exclaimed. “Was that the move you’ve been practicing lately?”

“Uh-huh. I think I’ll call it ‘Shining Spark,’ the white pegasus answered.

“Sounds cool! Now, let’s go help the others. I’ll go help Fluttershy, while you aid Firefly!”

“Roger that!”

The two pegasi split.Fluttershy clearly didn’t want to fight against the griffon who had #11 on his vest. She reduced herself to avoiding all of his attacks, but never tried to counter, even at the best possible moments. It left the griffin himself ponder about her actions, but when he asked her why she refuses to fight, Fluttershy didn’t respond.

She noticed Cloud Kicker coming closer and heard her voice in the communicator.

“Hey, Butterfly, looks like you could use some help! Listen, I’ve got a plan. Try to confuse him by flying around, then quickly dive down. I’ll attack him from the top and send him to you. Then, you’ll knock him out. You got it?”Cloud Kicker explained it rather quickly, but Fluttershy muttered a single “OK,” because she didn’t wanted to disappoint her friend. She begun to fly around the griffon, prompting him to try and claw her, but the yellow pegasus managed to remain swift enough to avoid the blows. After a moment, when she saw Cloud signaling that she’s ready, Fluttershy suddenly flew down, confusing her opponent. Cloud Kicker literally crashed into his head, hitting him with her hind legs and sending him down.

But as he was approaching Fluttershy, she hesitated. She couldn’t bring herself to harm him. She moved out of the way, allowing him to recover. Fluttershy feared he would retaliate now, but instead, the griffon decided to flee, seeing that he was at a disadvantage.

Cloud Kicker flew closer to Fluttershy and looked concerned.

“Hey, what happened? I thought you were going to finish him.”

Fluttershy’s voice was shaking when she answered.

“I couldn’t... I couldn’t do it... I’m sorry, Cloud Kicker....”

She patted the yellow pegasus on the back.

“It’s OK, I’m not mad. At least we’ve made him retreat. And look! It seems we managed to win!”

She pointed to Firefly, dealing a heavy blow to Zeakros. He staggered backwards.

“Dang! You’re not bad! We’ll fight again! Retreat, back to Gryphus, everyone!”

With slight reliefs on their faces, the griffins left the airspace. The ponies were cheering, but Fluttershy wasn’t happy. Firefly asked Cloud Kicker for details. She decided to tell her everything in the base.

==========

1350 hrs
Cloudsdale, Mirage squadron’s baseThe pegasi ponies were analyzing their battle assessment after they came back to Cloudsdale. Firefly walked back and forth, reading out the details, with other ponies listening carefully. After a few minutes, she stopped and turned to them.

“I must say, you girls have potential. In the end, nopony in Hoofington felt troubled about our presence, and they seemingly didn’t notice anything. In other words, we’ve managed to stall the invasion for a while. Good job.”

The team responded with a simple salute. However, Firefly wasn’t finished yet.

“But, the fact that griffins tried to kidnap fillies as hostages is quite disturbing. We should inform the princesses and leaders of other squadrons. Thunder, Sunny” – she pointed at Lightning Bolt and Cloud Kicker – “can I count on you two in that matter?”

The two pegasi saluted and soon, Cloud headed for Canterlot to speak with the Royal Sisters, while Lightning went to Mission Control to send the message to other leaders, leaving Firefly, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the briefing room. The pink pegasus squinted her eyes.

“Now, let me ask you, Fluttershy: why did you refuse to fight your enemy?”

Fluttershy was downright scared. She feared Firefly would now ultimately reject her as a part of the team. But, she still believed that the griffins weren’t evil.

“I... I just couldn’t! It’s not right! We shouldn’t be fighting against them! This war shouldn’t be happening at all! This all must be some kind of-” Before Fluttershy could finish, Firefly approached her and looked at her angrily before slapping her in the cheek, almost making her fall on the floor.

“Wake up, you moron! Didn’t you hear what they said?! They planned to kidnap little fillies! Those kinds of actions outright prove how evil they are! And yet, you still think they are not?!”

Fluttershy was trembling in her hooves. Rainbow decided to stand up to her again. “Firefly, they said they didn’t enjoyed that order, either. Whoever came up with it probably has some grudge against the ponies. But I don’t think it’s fair to make all griffins look like that one.”

Firefly turned to Rainbow now. “Don’t tell me what is fair! Are you saying there is no “right” in this war? No, there is! We fight to protect our land from the invaders. And if either of you doesn’t approve of my methods or the way I’m thinking, you’re free to leave our team! I’m sure there will be other pegasi willing to take your place!”This outburst of anger left Rainbow Dash concerned about Firefly. But she couldn’t come up with a response. Instead, she heard Fluttershy sobbing. When she lifted her head, her green eyes were full of tears.

“I knew I don’t belong here... I’m sorry that I failed you.... Goodbye.”Fluttershy flew away from the base before Rainbow Dash could stop her. The blue pegasus glared at Firefly. “Way to go, Firefly! I warned you; she doesn’t take war nicely! But you just HAD to screw it up!”

“Hey, I never forced anyone to stay,” the pink pegasus defended herself. “If she wants to leave, it’s her decision.” “And that’s where you’re wrong, leader! YOU made her leave! You simply brushed her aside, just because she refused to hurt the griffon. So what? We still managed to win.”

Firefly glared at Rainbow, too. “So, you want to follow her? Go ahead.”

“No, you’ll be the one to go after her, Firefly! Tell her you’re sorry and make her come back!”

“And why should I do that?”

Rainbow was really frustrated, but tried to reason calmly. “Firefly, Fluttershy has real talent. Maybe not exactly for fighting, but we’ll be needing her if we’re going to save Equestria. Believe me, she would not turn her back on anypony in need. You just need to accept the fact that she doesn’t like violence that much. I made wrong judgments about Fluttershy in the past, until I saw what she can really do. Please, Firefly.”

The pink pegasus saw the concern in Rainbow’s eyes. She backed away, and her ears flopped down, indicating she felt regret on what she had done. “Y’know... maybe you’re right, Rainbow. Maybe I was too harsh. Fine, I’ll bring her back. And I’m sorry for that outburst, but trust me, I have a good reason to act toward griffins like this.”

“Maybe we’ll find out one day,” Rainbow remarked. “She probably went to her cottage. It’s on the edge of Everfree Forest.”

Moments later, Firefly went after Fluttershy, still feeling bad that she shouted at her like that.

==========1422 hrs

Fluttershy’s cottageFluttershy slowly descended to her home. Her mind was full of doubts, and she had the urge to come back, yet thought that it would only make Firefly even angrier. But as she reached the door of her cottage, she suddenly started hearing voices. Male voices. One of them was clearly disappointed.

“Bah! It’s not here, either! Where is that Element of Harmony?”Fluttershy jumped. Someone is looking for her Element of Harmony! She didn’t knew for what reason, but she knew they would never find it in her cottage. The Elements were hidden in Canterlot Castle, protected by Princess Celestia’s powerful magic that only she could remove.

The yellow pegasus was anxious, but continued to eavesdrop on the conversation.

“Those griffins from intelligence should be fired. Their information is so unreliable.”

“Quit your whining. Just keep looking,” the other voice was calmer.

“Well, at least we took care of those annoying animals. I don’t get what ponies see in them, they only get in the way.”At this moment, Fluttershy couldn't bear it any longer. She bursted through the door, but almost immediately froze in terror. Inside her cottage were two griffins, who apparently trashed the place while looking for her Element of Harmony. She saw several unconscious animals lying on the floor, among them was her pet bunny, Angel.Something broke inside the pegasus’ soul, her delicate heart was pounding... She glared intensively at the griffins, who appeared to be amused by her sudden entrance.

“Hey, I think that’s the pony who lives here.” “No, really?” the other griffon remarked sarcastically. “Hey, you!” he yelled to Fluttershy. “We know that you’re hiding the Element of Harmony here. We were sent here to give it to our superiors. Are you going to tell us where it is, or should we do this the hard way?”But Fluttershy wasn’t listening. Her eyes started filling up with tears again. But this time, they weren’t tears of sadness. They were tears of anger. She couldn’t stand seeing her animal friends treated like this. The face of a normally quiet pony suddenly turned furious. “How dare you? How DARE YOU! You... you barbarians! What have you done to my friends!?”The griffins were caught off guard by Fluttershy’s yell. She started approaching them, staring deeply into their eyes. They both started feeling more and more uncertain the closer the yellow pegasus came to them. When she was literally touching the feathers on their chests, she said out loud:

“Leave this place at once! Leave, and NEVER! COME! BACK!”The griffins panicked, seeing a normally timid pony being this angry. They quickly turned around and fled. Within a few moments, her anger boiled down, and Fluttershy went to help the animals.

Firefly was just on her way to Fluttershy’s cottage, when she noticed two griffins flying from below. She prepared herself for a seemingly unavoidable fight, but they passed by, ignoring her presence. She heard them talking, though.

“Man, that pegasus pony freaked me out!”

“You tell me! Those eyes...!”Firefly was dumbfounded, but she processed those sentences as a proof that griffins were in Fluttershy’s house. She increased speed and soon landed.

“Fluttershy! Are you OK?” the pink pegasus shouted.

She came inside and saw the yellow pegasus tendering the hurt animals.

“What... what are you doing here, Firefly?”Fluttershy’s voice was shaking again. It was understandable, due to the emotions she experienced in the past few minutes. Firefly came closer. She spoke slowly. “I’m... I’m sorry that I gave you such a verbal beatdown. It’s just that I have bad experiences with griffins from the past... I don’t feel like telling anypony about the details now, but I will, in time... I’m really sorry, Fluttershy,” the pink pegasus lowered her head in shame.

Fluttershy didn’t say anything. For a while, she simply glanced at the miserable, sad figure of Firefly... Her entire vigor and determination seemingly withered away. Fluttershy suddenly realized something: this pegasus before her must have received some harsh treatment in her life. She felt sympathy.

The yellow pegasus approached Firefly and nuzzled her face. Thinking she will be slapped in a retaliation, Firefly lifted her sight. But, to her surprise, the timid pegasus gave her a hug. Fluttershy then said, with a gentle voice:

“It’s alright. I don’t blame you, Firefly. It was partially my fault, too. But... But, I will make amends. I promise you. I will do my best to protect Equestria from the invasion... Maybe eventually, we’ll find a solution to this problem.”

Firefly felt comforted by Fluttershy’s words. Hearing her heart pounding, she smiled and returned the hug. She then remembered about the two griffins that went past her.

“Say, those two feathered chumps... I saw them leaving in a hurry. What happened?”

“They... they were looking for my Element of Harmony, but they would never find it here anyway. They hurt my friends while doing so and... it made me... angry. So, I used The Stare and... they just left.”

Firefly couldn’t help, but laugh. But it wasn’t a mocking laugh, rather one filled with praise. She finally understood what Rainbow Dash meant about the Elements of Harmony. There was no doubt in her mind that Fluttershy was a spirit of kindness in the flesh.

“In one thing you're right, Butterfly. If there’s a way to end this war, we’ll do it together... as Mirage squadron.”

“Does that mean I can come back?” Fluttershy asked.

Firefly pointed at the vest the pegasus had on her the whole time.

“But you’ve never left. As long as you have this vest, you’re a part of our team. And I’m glad you didn’t take it off. Come on, let’s go back.”

Fluttershy quickly checked on her animal friends, fearing some were needing additional care. Besides, the cottage was a mess. Firefly decided to offer her assistance to the green-eyed mare. She gladly accepted.

Within about two hours, everything was nice and tidy again. Satisfied, Firefly once again told Fluttershy to follow her back. The yellow pegasus asked Angel to watch over her friends, to which he responded positively. The two pegasi flew back to Cloudsdale, with their worries and doubts casted aside. Both of them learned something more about each other. Firefly knew she had to be a bit gentler toward Fluttershy, while the yellow pegasus assured her that she would no longer hesitate to help her friends in the face of danger.

There was just that one thing which Firefly hadn’t mentioned to her friends. Something that was tormenting her for the last few years... an unfinished business from the past... and a true reason for her return to Equestria.

Comments

[nightelf37]

I seriously hoped you'd correct some spelling errors. For one, one of the lines had too many commas. Two, many of the words' tenses were wrong. I am disappoint.

[PolishValsion]

615626
Forgive me, English isn't my first language. ^ ^"

[Thespurgin]

So a bit of character building for Firefly... IDK this seems great but the non-action sequences seem a bit clipped and the action sequences seem a bit brief as well. You could use a lot more detail I know, though to be honest It does make perfect sense if this isn't your first language.

[Discordigan]

I like Firefly's characterization here.

[Caelus-Streak]

Seeing that this is a non-primary English speaker writing this, the story is reasonably great! Just a few pacing issues and missing out on the juicy details. But that's all. We readers love a delicious story