• Published 5th May 2016
  • 8,377 Views, 242 Comments

Flames of the Rainbows - ShadowFall



When ponies armed with terrifying and strange weapons take hostages in Ponyville, a counter-terrorist team from a far away world offers their services to assess and handle the situation. But they may have ulterior motives, something Celestia fears.

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Preparation (Pt. 2)

“Damn… that felt fucking weird…” Pulse shook his head to clear the blur he had in his eyes. Thankfully, he was the only operator wearing sunglasses when they came through the portal, as the others shielded their eyes from the sunlight.

Almost immediately when they came through the portal, an orange pony with a stetson trotted up to them.

“Hey, y’all must be the other pon- humans that are supposed’ to come through. Celestia’s waiting for ya guys.” Applejack greeted the operators that had materialised from the portal.

“Dear Christ, you’re the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” IQ chuckled as she followed the pony, as did the others. Applejack narrowed her eyes as she looked away from them, giving a silent, “Cute. Really.”

The operators walked over towards a small gathering of ponies that were behind a hill overlooking the town of Ponyville. Surrounded by four other mares, Celestia looked over towards the five new humans approaching her.

“Here they are, Yer’ Highness!” Applejack called out.

One by one, the operators walked up to Celestia.

“Ah, more help. Please give Clark my thanks for aiding us in this crisis.” Celestia smiled warmly at the humans.

“No thanks is needed. It’s what we were trained for, and it’s what we live by.” Doc nodded back, “Pardon myself, you can call me Doc, former French GIGN, now available to administer first aid to those need it.”

Celestia smiled, “A doctor. Just what we need. I have a stallion who’s still shaken up from his squad getting killed by those terrorists before. Are you experienced in therapy?”

“But of course. A doctor not only heals a person physically, but mentally as well.” Doc walked over towards the stallion, who had calmed down now, but was still having relapses of the prior event.

“Pulse. American FBI SWAT. Here to scan and assess the number of hostiles.” the man with sunglasses nodded to Celestia.

“Call me IQ. Experience from the German GSG-9 counter-terrorism unit. I was sent here for the detection of electronic devices that will pose as a hazard to all.” the woman in a grey hoodie with light armor on underneath spoke to Celestia, “Let me tell you, if I was still a little girl, I would be all over this place.”

Celestia laughed a bit. She could already tell that she would like this young woman. Then, the man in green camouflage and ear protection walked over to Celestia.

“My name is Glaz, former Spetsnaz. I’ll be providing overwatch for intelligence and should the enemy decide to have other plans and walk out.” Glaz actually shook the hoof of Celestia, “Oh, and that man over there is Mute, British SAS to employ electronic countermeasures. He doesn’t speak a whole lot if he doesn’t know you. Don’t take it as rude.”

Celestia glanced over towards Mute, the one in the black gear and gas mask who was currently checking one of his signal disruptors. Glaz then walked over to the group of ponies and spoke up.

“Okay, we are in a land that none of us are familiar with, so we need to work together. We’re going to have questions that hopefully can be answered by you all.” the sniper kneeled down to put himself at the ponies’ height.

“First off, what odd things did you notice around the town before this whole situation unfolded? Suspicious personnel, odd behavior, anything along those lines?” Pulse asked the group of ponies.

At first, none of Twilight’s friends could say they say anything, as each had been in different places at different times away from the castle, but a grey mare with crossed eyes brought herself up to the front.

“Hey! I think I might know something!” she waved her hoof in the air.

“Go ahead.” Mute pointed at her.

“So… I’m Ponyville’s mailmare, so I know about all the deliveries that take place! I mean… it’s kinda my job… but I say this group of… I think… eight stallions? Yeah, eight stallions saying that they were going to Princess Twilight’s castle for a delivery. They were wheeling in two really big crates towards the castle, and they were pretty mean to me…” she twiddled with her hooves as she voiced her experience.

“Eight possible hostiles. That’s going to make my job a lot easier.” Pulse nodded.

“We know that there is a sort of magic nullification device there in place. Any other sort of electronics that advanced?” IQ asked.

None of the ponies knew how to respond. Maybe these ponies weren’t the best to be questioned on technology.

“Ah, shoot. Twilight would know about that sorta stuff.” Applejack rubbed the back of her head.

“I really miss her…” Fluttershy looked down at the ground.

“Hey, hey, hey. Don’t worry. That’s what we’re here for.” Glaz held up his hand, unsure of how to keep everypony else calm. Usually Clark would be the man to handle citizens whose loved ones are currently being detained by terrorists.

“I’ve managed to stabilize our guard captain. Anyone else injured or in need of aid?” Doc walked back with his medical bag, “No? Good.”

Glaz turned to the ponies, “I need to know the highest point in that town so I can get a clear line of sight to the castle. Would anyone know where that would be?”

“Well, I would suggest the Town Hall, but that’s far too close to the castle.” Rainbow Dash pointed over the hill.

“Try the Carousel Boutique! The top of it has a clear view of the castle.” Rarity suggested, “Here, I’ll get a map and give you directions.”

Rarity had gone off into the crowd of ponies asking around for a map of the town as communications from Clark had come back in.

“Alright team, we’re about to initiate phase one. Get a final check on your gear and await my orders.” Clark spoke through the mic, “We’re shipping the other operators now.”

Back at HQ, ten other operators were boarding another set of private jets that Popov had contracted. Every phone call the Russian made, the more and more money he lost.

Then again, saving your own world and another should be worth any price tag.

Thankfully, both planes could easily handle the excess weight from the firearms and gear that were being flown directly into the plot of unsupervised Russian land.

Then, Clark’s voice came on in Celestia’s earpiece, “Alright. We need you to lower the sun into night. It’s been a considerable amount of hours, so day one will end. We need darkness to initiate our plan.”

The Princess of the Sun asked back, “Lower the sun? How will the stallions inside react?”

Clark remained silent for a few seconds, then spoke.

“I doubt they’ll do anything stupid. If they send you a letter to give them light again, then we’ll do so. At that point, we’ll already be in position.”

The Princess took a deep breath, looked up at the sun, let her magic flow through her horn, and concentrated.


Hunger could hardly describe the pain that Twilight, Starlight, and Spike were now feeling now as the stallions had engorged on the treat box that had been shipped to them.

“That mare sure knows how to bake…” a stallion laughed as he watched out the window.

“When we’re done here, they won’t even get the privilege to make our food for us…” Rocky nodded back and checked his radio, “Radio check number four. Check in.”

The stallions all replied on their radios. Everything was coming together perfectly.

“Hey, the sun’s setting.”

Rocky looked out the window as well, tightening the grip on his rifle. Currently, the belt-fed was sitting on a crate in a corner of the room.

Rocky broke another smile under his mask.

“She’s going back to her royal duties. Princess has to set the sun at some point. That’s just ending day one. One more day, she’d better step down or there’s going to be a lot more than two ponies’ and one dragon’s blood on her hooves.”

Twilight and Starlight were too overcome with hunger to pay too much attention now. They leaned back against the crystal walls, looking at each other, then back at the stallions. At this point, they had their hope drained from them for a long time. Deep down inside, Twilight knew that Celestia would not give up until she was free, but with all that was put against her, she didn’t know for sure now.

“Shouldn’t we worry about them coming in the night?” a stallion asked.

“Don’t sweat it. The castle runs on back up electricity since our machine disrupts pony magic, which is the source that lights up the castle in the first place. We just gotta keep the lights on, and no amount of guards they have can get past our firepower.” Rocky patted the M249 SAW on the crate.


Luna had seen the sun go down earlier than usual. She had been notified of a grievous situation back in Ponyville, but she had to complete this diplomatic visit. She kept worrying about what was going on back at home, and was thinking about what a terrible surprise it would be when she got back.

“Princess Luna, are you okay?” one of the deer asked the alicorn.

“I’m very sorry. My sister had sent me a letter informing me of a catastrophe back home. However, I must-”

The deer shook his head.

“Go back, Princess. You’ve already proven that you had changed from what you had become before. Help your kind.” The leader among them nodded.

“Are you sure?” Luna asked, to which she recieved a nod and a smile.


Under the cover of darkness, Pulse and IQ were currently staking out in a house that was nearby the castle. They had moved once it had gotten dark in order to get to their destination before the stallions could adjust to night vision. Thankfully, the lights were on in the castle, so that may be out of the question.

IQ took out her EDD and pointed the screen in front of her.

“EDD active. If it runs on batteries or has wires, it’s going to show up.” she said as the operator moved her screen back and forth.

“Cardiac sensor online.” Pulse spoke over the radio.

IQ scanned around the castle, and managed to find a plethora of signatures. However, at the distance they were at, she could only recognize one of the devices from its outline. It was the only large machine shown in the complex to be operational.

“Possible anti-magic machine found. Second floor. I see four other electronic signatures on the second floor as well. Three on the third floor, one in the basement, it seems.” the powerful detection radius of the device was highlighted when she pointed it towards the bottom of the castle, “We may be dealing with suicide vests. Those electronics are moving around like people.”

Meanwhile, Mute was behind the house. He had one of his jammers out with a wire running from it to his touch screen controller.

“I don’t think they’re explosives. I’m picking up a lot of radio interference that isn’t from us. I’m trying to fine tune the frequency to discover the channel. We’ll be able to listen in on them.” the SAS spoke.

Pulse had gotten his cardiac sensor out and moved it over the shape of the castle. As he scanned around, tiny red circles showed up every time the sensor made a sweep, similar if you had a sonar that pointed out directly ahead.

“Confirmed. Three on third floor. I detect… six… no, seven signatures on the second floor. One in the basement.” the American kept scanning over the castle to make sure that he didn’t miss anything, “Three on the second floor must be the hostages.”

Doc was currently with Mute, also trying to find the radio signal. Then, as he turned a dial, he heard a voice.

“...rhhghas...greahhhs… shhhhh.... I’m going to send another letter to Celestia. Gonna tell her get the sun back up soon…”

“I found the frequency. Channel twenty five.” Doc nodded to Mute, who tuned in , as did the other operators.

“I hear him. That must be one of the stallions.” IQ noted.

“Sun’s coming up soon? We’ll need to pull out beforehand.” Glaz kept looking down the sight of his rifle, seeing figures once in awhile pass by or look through one of the lit windows of the castle.

Clark came over the communications link, “Alright, we can’t risk your discovery now. How much intel have you gotten?”

“Good amount. Confirmed eight contacts, three hostages. Three third floor, one in the basement. Four are guarding the hostages.” Glaz radioed back.

“They are communicating with each other by using hand-held radios. Be advised, possible suicide vests may be employed by the the opfor,” IQ contacted back.

“I have two windows on the room of the hostages. Three on the top turret.” Glaz radioed in to Clark.

“Alright, good work Rainbow Team. There’s one last thing that needs to be done.” Clark announced.

“Drone it?” Mute already reached for his minidrone that was attached to his pack.

“Drone it.”

Immediately, the operators took their tiny black drivable cameras out, and activated their touch-screen controllers.

“Drones are spinning up.” IQ spoke as she drove hers out the door to the house they were hunkering down in, and met up with the other three drones that had been deployed. They waited a bit for Glaz, as he was quite a considerable distance away.

Once Glaz’s drone came up to the others, they all rolled behind the castle. Despite their small size, they had a deceptive amount of strength behind them. Activating a backwards anchor, Glaz’s drone pushed one of the heavy crystal doors open just ajar from the back of the castle, the drone whining from the effort and pressure that was being put on it. The four other drones rolled inside, as Glaz’s drone slipped away from the door inside just as it closed.

The tiny robots rolled around the place, with four heading upstairs, and Doc’s heading towards the basement.

Rolling to the deeper level of the house, Doc found a large table that reminded him of holographic projections. Looking around with the drone, he managed to find the one pony in the basement. The White Mask was on the stallion, as well as in his grip, was an M1040 shotgun in his grip.

“Confirmed, White Masks.” Doc showed the footage to the operators who were already in-flight, and Clark who was watching all of the footage.

“So they are here…” Clark grimly spoke.

Going up to the second floor, the three drones that had split away from the one silently rolled into the room, peeking from a corner of a doorway.

“Hostiles found. Four confirmed. Hostages located.” Mute spoke up.

“So the electronics are radios. I can see them on their waists.” IQ pointed out.

“Three hostages confirmed. I have eyes on the packages.” Glaz spoke to the rest of the team.

Then, Pulse’s drone had gone alone to the top turret of the castle where three more enemies were hiding.

“Three hostiles on third floor.” Pulse confirmed, “Same story, radios.”

Clark watched all of the footage and nodded back, “Roger that. Getting all of this, Rainbow Team?”

“We hear and see loud and clear.” Fuze nodded back on the plane.

“Same on the other airline.” Thermite nodded.

Then, Celestia’s voice came over on the communications.

“They’re asking me to raise the sun again. I’m going to have to comply, or-”

Clark nodded back, “Raise the sun in five minutes. My team is almost done with the first phase.”

Rainbow Six then spoke back to the drone controllers already in Equestria, “Park the drones, and keep them hidden. Keep those cameras online so we can see what they’re up to.”

The five operators acknowledged the order, and hid their drone underneaths desks, behind furniture, anything they could find to keep those drones hidden. Now, the entire team could view the camera feed of those drones, knowing exactly where the enemies and hostages were located at all times. If they moved, the drones could always follow at any time.

It was too bad, Clark thought, that there was no chance of a real negotiation. None of the operators were adept in that field, and the entire scenario of this mission had to remain top secret.

“Good work, team. Mute, get a jammer behind the building you’re at. Don’t activate it, but just leave it there.” Clark ordered.

“Roger. Jammer’s going up.” Mute spoke as he placed the black device down behind the building he was behind.

Celestia spoke up, “I need to raise the sun now. Are you finished?”

Clark replied, “Yes, give my team a few minutes to get out, and raise the sun when they’re clear over the hill.”

“You heard Rainbow Six, let’s get out of here.” Glaz said as he began to climb down the Boutique, and the other operators used the shield of darkness to relocate away from the town.


Phase one was complete. However, Clark had been thinking the whole time. In addition to planning what was about to follow, he had to talk to Celestia about a few things. He knew that she wasn’t going to take it well, but at this point in the operation, there was no way she could refuse.

Clark, still in the Russian structure in the separate universe looked back at Ding.

Then, Ding spoke to Rainbow Team. “This is Rainbow Five. Phase one is now complete. Prepare for phase two.”

Clark got on the radio as well, “We will be planning our attack.”