Guardians of Equestria

by Silverwind Blade

Guidance

Guidance

The Sun Chaser drifted closer to the ground, and at the command from her captain, Twilight levitated the airships’ ground anchor overboard. It crashed to the ground among an outcropping of rocks and dug in fast, holding the airship steady enough that the gangplank could be put over the side.

Tentative and wary, but full of curiosity, Twilight and her friends were the first – amidst the normal objections – the make their way off of the ship and to the ground. The beacon of light Fluttershy and Pinkie had seen had lead them this way, seeming to come from a tall mountain peak, which itself was clear of the grey clouds that had dogged them, and seemingly confused the navigation beacon that the princess had been given by Livvy. The light had illuminated other peaks of the range, which seemed to be part of a landmass below, hidden by the thick clouds.

The rocky ground under their hooves gave way to an alpine meadow, and the smell of rich earth and plant-life tickled their noses as the six ponies and one dragon made their way along the path worn into the undergrowth. “You don’t suppose this is a trap?” Fluttershy said in a quiet voice from her place at the middle of the line of ponies. “Some mean creature luring travellers to their doom with a fake light to guide them. Like one of those fish that live in the deepest part of the sea?”

“I wasn’t until you said that,” Spike replied with a grimace. “Now I’m worried!”

“Don't worry,” Twilight said firmly. “If it turns out to be anything bad, I’ll teleport us all back to the ship. We haven’t come that far yet. And besides; it’s not like we have anything else to go for right now”.

The misty fog cleared as they moved between flowering bushes and plants. Birdsong wove through the branches around them, and the cloud broke enough for filtered sunlight to break through, gleaming down in shafts of light.

“Look there!” Rarity said, pointing excitedly with a hoof ahead of them. “Is that a palace?”

“No, not quite,” Rainbow said, looking with squinted eyes. “It looks like… a tower of some kind?”

“It’s a lighthouse,” Applejack said after a moment, looking up. “A real fancy one, mind, but it’s a lighthouse, for sure. I mean, makes sense, right? A beacon guiding the way for travellers out of this murk. That’s what it must be, right?”

“Well then,” Twilight said with a broad smile to her friends, “let’s go see if the lighthouse keeper is in, shall we?”

Applejack’s assertion was right as could be. The building was, to say the least, fancy. It wasn’t quite as elegant or sweepingly high class as the Royal Palace at Canterlot or the Crystal Castle at the heart of Cadance’s Crystal Empire, but the elegant carvings, buttressed arches, inlaid marble tiling and gold-leaf detail made it a lot more than a simple lighthouse. A tall double door rose ahead of them at the top of a short set of steps, and Twilight exchanged a glance with the others before trotting up the steps and rapping sharply on the door with a hoof. They ponies paused for an answer, waiting a few moments, before frowning and exchanging looks.

“Should we just go in?” asked Fluttershy, looking from face to face. “I don’t want to be rude. Or worse, to trespass into someone’s home”. Her ears drooped as she said it, and she hung her head, grimacing.

“Well, if they shone a big light into the sky to let everypony know they’re here, the least you’d think they could’ve done is be here to answer the door when people show up!” Rainbow scoffed with a huff, folding her front legs as she hovered in place with steady wingbeats. “I mean, that seems way more rude than going in when the door isn’t opened. Hello? We were invited here!”

“Well, we won’t find out anything by staying outside,” Twilight agreed. “Everypony, stay close – just in case”.

Her horn glowing with a purple aura, Twilight opened the door and lead the way inside. Behind her, the others gathered into a huddle behind her as they moved into the building.

“Oooh,” Pinkie said as they looked around the inside. “Fancy!”

Vaulted ceilings rose above them, with doorways leading off and giving glimpses of other chambers laid out with plush furnishings and colourful decorations of blue, gold, and rose. At the other end of the room, opposite the doors, a sweeping staircase rose, spiralling in an elegant curve around the inside of the circular room and rising high towards the distant ceiling.

“Y’all got that right,” murmured Applejack as she too looked around and took in the magnificence around them. “Now lookie there,” she said as her green eyes fell upon a mural on the wall behind them above the doors. “Ah reckon that counts for points if we’re hopin’ this is a friendly place an’ all”

The others turned to where she’d indicated, and took in what had gotten the farmer pony’s attention. Above the double doors was a gorgeously elaborate mosaic with inlaid stained glass. It depicted Celestia and Luna with bowed heads and closed eyed expression of beatific knowing and guidance. Their horns were lit and wings spread, and the intersecting auras from both framed a pegasus pony with her wings – larger than most – spread as she rose toward the skies, which were starry and bright. One star in particular gleamed brighter than the rest above her head, built in as part of the stained glass. Twilight, with her interest in astronomy, placed it immediately through the constellations surrounding. “The north star,” she said for the benefit of the others. “The pole star; ponies and other creatures have used it to find their way for centuries. I guess it must have something to do with this lighthouse”

“Very astute, but I’d expect that from Princess Twilight Sparkle”.

The seven friends looked up at the sound of the pretty female voice, and were greeted by the sight of a pegasus gently gliding down from the upper floors of the tower. Her coat was a painted mix of brown and white, with her long and elegant mane and tail the same. What stood out the most was her wings, however. They were much larger than any pegasus any of them had ever seen, and closer to Twilight’s wings, or those of Celestia, Luna or Cadance’s than any other. She was similarly quite tall as well; not nearly the size of Celestia, but close to Cadance’s size.

“It seems like you have us at a disadvantage, darling,” Rarity said, stepping forward with a charming smile. “But I take it you were the one who shone the light to guide our way here through those clouds?”

“That’s right,” she said with a pleasant smile. “My name is Northern Star, though most ponies call me North. I keep the beacon going to guide creatures on their way when they’re travelling and find themselves lost.”

“Well, that definitely applies to us,” Applejack said, tilting her hat back and nodding. “Can y’all set us on the right track? We’re on an important mission an’ all, and gettin’ lost in these clouds has really set us back”.

“Of course,” the pegasus replied with a smile. “You can rest here a while. Once the clouds clear, you’ll be able to find your way.”

“Thank you for guiding us with your beacon,” Twilight said with a genuine tone of thanks. “We didn’t see all those mountain peaks before, and the idea we could have hit one of them doesn’t bear thinking about. You already know my name, but these are my friends”. She proceeded to introduce the rest of the elements and Spike. North greeted them all warmly, in turn.

Twilight frowned. “I received a compass from a friend to help us guide the way, but it doesn’t seem to have worked after we were stuck in those clouds. Do you know anything about it?”

North frowned, putting one hoof to her chin in thought. “The clouds may have been some kind of magical phenomenon. Sometimes they drift over the Frozen Seas, and end up charged with strange magic from drifting over the some of the ancient lands there. Sometimes they can do strange things, like setting travellers off course, or making them lose their way. If you knew you were lost and needed help, then that would be why and how you found me”.

“Hey, I have a question,” Rainbow Dash said, peering curiously at the friendly pony, and in particular at her wings. “How come your wings are so big, they look like one of the princesses”.

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity scolded, putting one hoof to her muzzle. “You can’t go around just asking ponies about the size of their ...body parts, that’s just… rude!”

Flustered, she looked over to North with a charming smile of apology, while Rainbow rolled her eyes. The others displayed a mix of amusement at both ponies reactions.

North gave a soft chuckle of her own as she extended one of her wings to one side and answering with a smile. “Oh, please; that’s quite all right. Well, yes, I suppose they are quite large. I am distantly related to Celestia and Luna, so I suppose it passed down in my blood line over time”

“You’re related to the Princ- er, sisters?” Twilight said with interest. “I hadn’t heard of you before now”

The pretty pegasus mare shrugged amicably and with the smile still present on her muzzle. “It’s only a distant relation,” she replied. “But it gives me a little responsibility that I’m proud to have. Helping other creatures is something I’m glad to do, especially if it’s important like this mission you’re on. But please; we can discuss anything else you would like over food and in more comfortable surroundings. All of your crew are welcome to make use of the facilities.”

North lead them through a door to an adjacent room which was laid out with couches and cushions, and had a wide window overlooking the meadows rolling away down the mountainside and to a small forest that stretched to the shores of the island. The thick cloud and associated fog was starting to melt away, leaving a cool blue sky and birds wheeling above the mountainside. A fire glowed in a stylish and ornate fireplace at the end of the room, giving the place a more homely and comfortable feel that took away from the initially overwhelming presence of the place.

“You can rest here if you like. Twilight, if you come with me, I’ll show you to the library where I keep all of the maps and charts. Make yourselves comfortable; there’s food and drinks in the room next door as well”

“Thank you,” Twilight said genuinely and graciously. “Rainbow, will you please go back to the ship and tell the captain about the situation, and we can organise perhaps having some of the crew come and take leave and rest for a while as well”

Dash threw out a jokey salute and flapped away, while the rest of the group spread out to explore the rest of the room.

“So, you said library?” Twilight asked with an excited grin as she trotted alongside North down a hallway. “Do you have many books in there; I used to be a librarian when I first moved to Ponyville. And I’ve always loved books, too”.

North smiled back at the princess and nodded. “Yes, I’ve heard from Celestia; when you were her student she said you read almost every book in the library at least once! We’ll find the charts and maps for you first; but once we’re done, feel free to browse”.

North pushed open one side of a double door ahead of them and bade Twilight to walk through. The purple alicorn gave a coo of amazement as she swept her eyes across the shelves stacked with tomes of various shapes and sizes, along with scroll tubes. North laughed softly at Twilight’s excitement as she trotted around the room examining the titles on the shelves with glee and excitement while the brown-and-white pegasus retrieved rolled up charts from a drawer under one of the reading tables and rolled them out flat onto the surface. Twilight pushed aside her attention to the books, having already formed a list of the titles she wanted to investigate further and instead came to stand alongside North at the table.

“Here we are,” the gorgeous pegasus declared. “These charts show a lot more of the land beyond Equestria. I’ve gathered them over the years. Travellers passing through have traded them or given them as gifts”. She tapped the chart, highlighting an island halfway between Equestria’s east coast and a landmass of equal size to the east.

“This is where we are now, and what Equestria generally considers the limit of the ‘known world’. To the south is Abyssinia. But the continent to the east is where you’re heading, I take it?”

Twilight took the communications device out of her saddlebags and looked down at it as she placed it on the table. The holographic imagery flickered to life, hovering in the air over the device, blinking as it pointed to the east. A touch of her hoof on the base unit, and it shifted to a wireframe image of the planet with the landmasses outlined. A southern peninsula of the eastern continent was filled in green, distant from their current position. Twilight was quietly impressed by the distance they had already covered. It was far, far further than any trip they had made previously, even on their quest to find the hippogriffs and save Equestria from the Storm King, or any of the friendship missions the cutie map had sent them on.

She traced the course their airship had taken from southern Equestria, skirting past the fringes of Griffinstone and the Dragonlands, and then out across the Luna sea for hundreds of miles, past islands so tiny they had no names on the map. The Sun Chaser was fast and had covered the distance in only a few short days, even with the hostile fog covering their way. Examining the charts, she could see how the clouds had thrown them wildly off of course. She gave an annoyed snort as she noticed this, receiving a pat on the shoulder from North as she did so.

“Don’t fret, Twilight. Your compass is working now, and you can take the charts with you. I’ll make sure you find your way; after all, that’s what I do”.

Twilight smiled at the pegasus, taking her eyes away from the chart to look at her. “Thank you, North. Your help will really make a difference to our mission, and you’ve offered us so much hospitality too”.

The pegasus shook her head and smiled. “Think nothing of it; it’s just in my nature. Please, make yourselves comfortable, and take as long as you need”.

Starlight’s reunion with her friends on the Earth-side of the portal had been a joyful occasion. Despite all of the desperate news she had to deliver and the life-or-death situation back on Equus, this moment was a relief and one she could enjoy. The girls clustered round her, and she was bombarded with questions about how life had treated her, what things she had been up to, and all other aspects of her life back in Equestria. As much as she might have wanted, there was no time to cover everything and instead she gratefully accepted an offered seat in the shade of a statue at the centre of the rectangular courtyard among the university buildings.

Fluttershy offered to share her lunch with Starlight, and the others soon chipped in, offering bits and pieces of their own food so she could eat alongside them all. As the small group ate, they talked and Starlight answered the questions about her life and how it had been since they last met, before Sunset bought the conversation around.

“So, Starlight,” the red-and-yellow haired woman said with a smile. “As much as a visit from you is absolutely welcome, I get the feeling there’s more to it than just a social call”.

Starlight’s face fell as she nodded. “Unfortunately you’re right, Sunset. As much as I wish it was just a social call, there’s more to it. Rainbow asked me earlier if it was a magic-related issue, and she wasn’t far off the mark”.

“Oh no,” Pinkie exclaimed. “Is it more escaped magic from Equestria? Or another magical object, like a magic camera that creates an evil duplicate when it takes your photo? Or a magic necklace that turns everyone into cats? Or-”

“No, no, Pinkie, nothing like that” Starlight said, holding her hands up to stop the pink woman before she continued on the tumbling cascade of ideas. “It’s not magic escaping from Equestria-”

“For once,” Rarity added, deadpan.

“-This time. No, it’s a problem back in Equestria that needs a particular kind of help to solve”.

“Maybe you ought to explain what the problem is, and how you think we can help,” Sunset said, looking serious as she leant forward to speak. Starlight took a breath, and started to explain the situation. It started off with halting slow sentences, but as she went onward and more information came out, she picked up pace until the words were tumbling out of her mouth. By the end of the explanation, Rarity was holding one of her hands, while Fluttershy laid a cool hand on the middle of her back.

“Holy shit”, Rainbow said, eyes wide and her head shaking in amazement. “A war, in the land where all the magic ponies are. I can’t believe it!”

“Yeah, and it sounds mighty serious too,” Applejack said with a grimace. “More like some of the things from our world than yer own, Starlight. You ever hear of anything like this, Sunset?”

The bronze-skinned girl shook her head slowly, face lost deep in thought. “No, not at all. Even when I was studying with Princess Celestia. The closest thing was the civil war that broke out when Princess Luna turned into Nightmare Moon, and even then; that wasn’t fought with the kind of weapons Starlight was talking about. Like you said, Applejack, this sounds like something from this world”.

The Twilight of Sunset’s adopted world adjusted her glasses and her brows furrowed in concentration. “It’s interesting how these Hollow Things have adopted a technological approach to combat via the energy they’ve harvested from magic, rather than using the magic itself and magical abilities like the ones we get through our geodes, or that we’ve seen ponies can use in Equestria. Our abilities must at least be equal to the weaponry that the Hollow Things use”. She frowned and put one slim purple finger to her chin, brushing her skirt off as she paced, moving her hands rapidly as she spoke out her theories, the others listening curiously.

“Having seen what magic can do to some degree and hearing more from Sunset and the other ponies we’ve met, and then looking at the weapons and technology of our world can do by comparison, there isn’t much of an innate superiority to either. Magic is more versatile in an immediate situation, and can be used and adopted for a variety of tasks with little infrastructure. But technology can be used by everyone without any physical requirements or abilities, and can be used over and over again by multiple users or operators, and can be taught and demonstrated simple. Magic depends on physical, mental and emotional limits and conditions, as well as innate ability and physical capability. Add to this that anyone can use weapons of any kind of power and effect, rather than only the most powerful magic users being able to cast the most powerful spells, or them coming with conditions, like our geodes or the elements of harmony as the most powerful kinds of magic. But, technology requires infrastructure and development to function, and to develop those weapons, and the technology preceding them. These Hollow Things seem to combine the flexibility of technology with the ability to dampen or suck the magic out of magic-users, and it makes them, well, pretty formidable. But, not indestructible, like Starlight described. It’s just finding a way to beat them effectively”.

Twilight stopped pacing and looked back at the other girls, all of whom were staring at her with wide eyes.

“...Right,” Starlight said flatly as Twilight blushed dark purple and sat back down, “which is why I need to find an effective way of studying them that doesn’t involve magic,” Starlight said, getting back to the core of the issue. “Because all of the monitoring or observation spells and equipment that we use is reliant on magic in some way. And while we’ve managed to block the draining effect with thick shielding walls, it blocks magic from outside too and that stops us from effectively monitoring the only one we have managed to capture”.

Sunset pondered further, getting to her feet and leant on the statue with her chin resting on her knuckles again as she squinted into the summer skies. “There is equipment that can measure the kind of things you’re talking about in this world that doesn’t use magic – well, obviously – and there are portable power sources too; generators and so on.”

“Hmm,” Twilight said brightly with a smile. “From my own studies of magic in the past, I think it’d be pretty easy to develop a device that can charge high capacity batteries from magical energy and power machinery; that would eliminate the need for a generator. And I can imagine the kind of equipment we’d need too; most of it is here at the university”. She frowned. “Although, borrowing it might be somewhat harder, even if it is here”.

“We’ll just have to be very… convincing about it,” Sunset said with a grin, rubbing her hands together.

Applejack frowned, climbing to her feet as well and giving a wary look towards Sunset and the devious look she’d adopted. “Now, sugar cube. It sounds to me like yer plannin’ something vergin’ on dishonest there, an’ in my humble experience, that don’t often lead to anythin’ good”.

“But darling,” Rarity said with an even, but hopeful tone, “surely with the stakes and circumstances you can see the reasoning behind it. Telling the truth would be admirable, but it would raise more questions than it would help. And Starlight and our other friends in Equestria don’t have that kind of time.”

“Don’t worry AJ,” Rainbow Dash said with a cunning smile. “We don’t have to lie, we just have to come up with a different truth”

“Well, call me a simple country gal an’ all, RD, but that just sounds like another way ta say ‘lyin’’” the deadpan delivery from the farmer’s mouth was enough to give Starlight pause to give a smile and a few chuckles ran around the group.

“Actually,” Twilight said, with a thoughtful expression and a smile playing around the corners of her mouth. “I think I have an idea about that”.

Luna sat with her head hanging sadly as she looked over her sisters’ recumbent form on the field hospitals’ bed. The solar alicorn was bandaged around her middle, her chest moving slowly and steadily. Her mane and tail were as they had been when she fell from the sky; pastel pink and unmoving unlike their normal steady wave. Her horn showed the cost of her exertion. The normally elegant and flawless alabaster spiral was blackened and chipped along its’ length, a sure sign that she had overtaxed her magic. Quite an astounding feat for an alicorn, and even more so for one of Celestia’s experience and ability.

Luna looked on at her sister. Her expression shifted in her sleep, becoming pained and troubled and her breath shallow, and her body shifting and struggling. The darker alicorns’ heart went out to her elder sibling. She had no doubt that she would have suffered just as much if she had used her power in the same way. Gently, she reached out one hoof and rested it over Celestia’s own; the elder alicorn's breath eased off and became calmer and the moon princess felt a flush of relief that she could do something to help her.

Reluctantly, she stood and bowed her head, planting a kiss on the forehead of her sister. She had work to do, regardless of her desire to stay by Celestia’s side until she awoke. With Celestia out of action for the foreseeable future and Twilight still away on her quest, leading Equestria was now down to her. Cadance was holding the Crystal Empire. The allied nation had become a sort of safe harbour for the flow of evacuees into the empire from Equestria. More than that, and much more grim, the preparation of a fallback line with the allies from other nations they had managed to pull together had begun there under Shining Armour's direction.

It wasn’t her only experience of leadership. Although, her last brush with it had come when she had become Nightmare Moon. This time, her rule would have to be different than her tyrannical, megalomaniacal lead. Thinking of that now just left her feeling ashamed and embarrassed; she knew she could do better than her petty jealously had lead her to in the past. She was older, more mature, and the ponies and creatures of Equestria had proven and demonstrated their love for her on so many occasions. It was the least she could do to return it.

She turned and left Celestia’s side, wandering out through the medical tent. Ponies lay on cots, bandaged and in various states of recovery or healing. In the distance, the spire of Ponyville’s town hall rose above the field of tents and distant roofs. Ponyville had become a refugee camp for the displaced ponies of Canterlot before they trickled elsewhere on it's railways and a field hospital for the wounded from the battle at the capital had been set up there. All around her ponies moved to and fro with their business and duties, paying no mind to the former princess in their hurry. Others sat in the tents, looking out with sad, tired eyes at Luna as she walked among them. Her bodyguards stood waiting nearby and came to attention as she approached.

“Your highness,” Amethyst Shadow said as Luna moved to their side. “We’ve received word from the Wonderbolts that were detached to the plateau. They’re in contact with Tempest Shadow’s forces, and are about to launch an attack on the Hollow Things forces”.

“At last, some kind of counter-attack that may stand a chance”, Luna said with a grim smile. “It’s about time that we had some kind of luck. Let us hope that these ‘Prowlers’ Twilight Sparkle spoke of are as effective as she lead us to believe.” She tossed her mane in agitation as she trotted alongside Amethyst and her other guard, Umbra, and looked out at the tent city around them. “Faust only knows we could use something positive. I shall mark it as our first successful action, and the first action under my leadership in this war. Celestia lead with grace and dedication, and her example will be the one I follow too”.

“Of course, your majesty,” Amethyst said with a tight smile and a nod. “And you shall have my aid wherever you need it, too. Anything I can do will be yours”.

“Always a loyal guard, Amethyst. I thank you for your service and your dedication. And I am sure that I will have much need for your service before this is over.”

“I stand ready, as always”.

“And I, your highness,” Umbra added in his low, whispery voice. “Whatever you need, you have only to order it. We stand ready”.

“Both of you are so loyal, and so kind. I knew I had chosen well with you both as not only my guards, but my counsel”.

Any reply the humbled pair had was drowned our and all heads turned toward the skies as they split with a rumbling roar, and a quartet of sleek, black shapes flashed by overhead at mind-blowing speed.

At the controls of the lead Prowler, Soarin tried to force tension out of his mind and body as he guided the aircraft across the landscape of Equestria. Rolling plains and clumps of woodland and farmland flashed by in a blur of green and brown beneath the arrowhead-shaped aircrafts’ wings as he and the rest of the Wonderbolt formation flew at speeds better than their personal bests with only the effort of their hooves on controls.

The Prowlers had been tricky at first, but all of the ponies had agreed; after only a short amount of time in the cockpits of the machines, they had started to feel intuitive and easy, the knowledge seemingly growing in their minds with each and every flight. A scan of their minds by one of the unicorns at the plateau facility assigned as medical staff had revealed that the information on how to operate the machines had been implanted into their minds gently and gradually through interaction with the aircraft, and that much of the rest of the technology in the base was capable of the same kind of interaction.

Little of that mattered to Soarin or the rest of the Wonderbolts now as they closed in on the position of the front-lines of the advancing Hollow Things. Instead, he was battling the nerves and the worries that rose in his head. Flying in the Wonderbolts displays and some of the outstanding and death-defying routines and manoeuvres they had performed, along with the hoof-ful of military actions he’d experienced had been enough to leave him with doubts and concerns, but this was different. Going up against a merciless and ruthless enemy, one that had left Celestia in a dire state, even after she had devastated much of their number, that had chased Ponies from their homes, and left others dead or dying; even Tirek had not done as badly.

The holographic displays pulled him out of his thoughts as chirping indicators and blinking icons informed him of the approach to the enemy.

“Coming up on our initial point, stand by,” he called out to the other three craft, piloted by his long-term team mates. In reality, he was surprised by how familiar it felt in some ways; flying to a point, then executing a manoeuvre. Just like flying a display or a stunt. Except this time, the stunt wasn’t an elaborate formation break, it was unleashing high explosives on whatever dared to threaten them and the rest of Equestria.

Thin streamers of smoke rose from the ground ahead, and as he squinted through his flying goggles, the holographic display opened a new window in thin air, zooming in on the area he was looking at through the tinted cockpit glass. It showed a clump of Hollow Things on the move. They skittered, galloped, and bounded across the landscape. Larger forms lumbered and strode among them, bristling with wicked-looking weapon turrets and spiky protrusions he assumed were some other kind of projectiles like rockets. Their inky blackness almost seemed to soak up the light, and contrasted with the ember-like glow from between the armoured plates of their bodies and the smouldering red of their eyes or other sensors. He felt an uncommon anger towards the creatures rise in his chest as he saw them, and gritted his teeth, snorting in anger.

“Spread out and take formation Cherry-Three-Pie,” he said firmly, and the other Prowlers spread out into a line-abreast formation. The Hollow Things hadn’t been idle or sleeping, and the first licks of firepower rose to meet them along with dark shapes taking wing and rising to meet them, even as they closed in at breath-taking speed.

Soarin simply pressed the frog of his hoof against the controls. Highlighted boxes appeared over the group of lumbering titans and the mass of creatures around them, turning red as the Prowlers’ targeting systems locked on. Glyphs and icons in the displays informed him of his wingponies doing the same. Another icon flicked from red to green as he reached the optimum moment, calculated by the crafts’ own impersonal machine intelligence. As he pressed the button to authorise, the Prowler rumbled slightly and began to climb. A couple of hits found their mark, the aircraft's shields rippling and shimmering as the bolts of energy hit home. The sleek craft wobbled and jumped in the air at the impact, but he was free and climbing higher, with all three of his comrades following suit.

At another touch from his hoof, the view from the Prowlers’ cameras changed, showing the view from the rear as the sleek arrowhead climbed upward. The pegasus stallion watched with his heart thumping against his ribs in anticipation and anxiety as he waited for some sign that-

He winced and turned his eyes away as the screen whited out with light-bloom and the Prowler shook in the air, the cockpit turning to deep shadows as their bomb-load exploded behind them. Once he’d blinked the spots out of his eyes and the screen had returned to normal, he looked back, still blinking and wide-eyed, turning the Prowler into a wide bank to take them over the area of their attack to get a clearer look.

A set of overlapping shallow craters marred the ground below, the vegetation a charred black-brown and leaking plumes of dark smoke into the sky. Small fires burned here and there, and steam rose in a roiling cloud from a stream bed. Of the Hollow Things, those near the centre of the blasts were piles of slag and debris. Others remained as collections of strewn limbs and body parts, with the greater majority of them unseen or unfound. Those at the edges of the blast and had not been thrown about by the concussive force and impact looked like wax sculptures under a hot sun, their edges softened and melted into rounded shapes, their forms slumped and almost seeming to have succumbed completely to gravity and lost all of their integrity. They lay dark and unmoving, with none of the smouldering ember-glow to them.

He felt a dark elation at the damage they had done to their formerly implacable enemy… but a deep stab of shock at the damage they had caused with only four Prowlers and a simple bomb load.

“Soarin, look. At the edges of the blast”.

He turned at the sound of Fleetfoot’s voice and is eyes roved to the edges of the shallow craters, the displays once again zooming in to match the direction of his glances.

Around the edges of the crater, the shapes and forms of sleek black plate and glowing red embers were climbing back to their feet, starting to move and thrive. The strike must have wiped out hundreds, but there were still more. And they were still moving, regrouping and organising.

“We barely even made a mark,” Soarin muttered darkly, feeling his heart sink into his stomach. For a moment, he thought of pulling the quartet of aircraft around and strafing them with the built-in guns, but it would be an indulgent, self-satisfying gesture, and worse; it could risk them to enemy fire or even colliding with the terrain. Instead, bitterly, he gave the order to return to base.

“Don’t beat yourself up too much, chief,” Misty Fly said over the communications channel between the four aircraft, playing up on the tone of his voice. “We might not have stopped them dead, but look at it this way: We’ve hurt them hard twice now, and we can do it again. Maybe it’ll give them a pause, and give us a chance to catch our breath”.

Soarin reappraised his thoughts as the pegasus mare said that, reviewing the action. They had smashed a huge hole in the monsters line of advance, and not long after the Sun Goddess had done almost the same thing not a day earlier. Two hard and decisive blows within forty-eight hours would, at least, make their enemy pause and take stock.

Or, so he hoped. In the meantime, they had to reload and rearm. No doubt the Prowlers would be needed again soon.

Atop a ridge a mile from the blast area, Tempest Shadow raised her head and spat out a mouthful of dirt, and shook more out of her spiky Mohawk mane. Around her, the rest of her command team did the same. The blast had been much bigger than any of them had expected, and had tossed earth, vegetation and other debris across the entrenched front line of the Equestrian army. The indigo mare wiped one foreleg across her face to clear more of the dirt and lifted a pair of binoculars to her face. The Hollow Things were slowly reorganising, recovering from the shock of the attack and the impact of the bombs. A sharp scowl on her stern, angled face, she lowered the field binoculars and turned to her second in command.

“Colonel Vigil, order a barrage of creeping fire from our artillery positions; we must take the advantage while it’s there”. He saluted and galloped away to pass on the message, while the unicorn mare turned to her communications officer, and beckoned the petite pegasus mare over. “Lieutenant, get me in touch with the field HQ”.

The white coated pegasus cranked the telephone set strapped to her sides, listened to the receiver for a minute and then passed it over to Tempest as she turned her head to look back out over the landscape from the top of the ridge.

“This is Commander Tempest,” she said as she squinted out at the scene. “The air attack was successful; no casualties from the Wonderbolt flight. The bombs did a lot of damage, and we’re pressing the advantage with an artillery barrage. Hollow Things casualties are extensive but...”

She grimaced as she looked out over the rolling landscape beyond the ridge, and the smouldering ground. “...But they aren’t stopped, just slowed down. They’re regrouping, and seem to be holding position – for now”.

The scream of shells passed over her head and she looked up, seeing nothing but a blur before the rumbling roar of detonating shells filled the air, drowning out the reply from the field phone as she looked toward the distant shapes moving, her face a mask of concern.

Twilight trotted out of the lush guest room in the lighthouse, her hoofsteps ringing through the halls as she followed the murmuring sound of voices toward the dining room they had gathered in last night with North. The alicorn frowned; the tone of the voices was concerned and their words rapid-paced. She, as yet, couldn’t pick out the exact words her friends were saying, but could recognise their tones and accents from here easily enough, and picked up her pace a little out of curiosity.

As the lavender mare pushed open the large, ornately decorated door with her telekinesis the voices died away, and all eyes fixed on her.

“Good morning?” she said curiously as she slowly walked into the room, hooves thumping on the thick rugs around the large wooden banquet table. “What’s the matter, why the sudden silence?”

She frowned as the rest of her friends and their host exchanged glances, feeling her patience starting to thin, and stamped one fore-hoof. “Girls!” she said more forcefully. “Come on, you’re all starting to worry me”.

“Darling,” Rarity began, sliding off of her seat and trotting around the table to join her, resting one hoof on her shoulder. “We got some news from Equestria, about the fight back there”.

Twilight looked hesitantly into Rarity’s sapphire eyes, as they looked back with measured concern, before her own flicked to look around at the others, their eyes having the same concern.

“What is it?” she said in a small voice, starting to feel worry mounting. “What aren’t you telling me, what happened?”

Spike jumped down from his seat, and Applejack followed him as they joined Rarity where she stood with Twilight. The three exchanged glances, and Spike started speaking. “Twilight, I got a message a little while ago. From Princess Luna; it was addressed to all of us, so I read it. The girls were with me when I read it, and I thought I should tell them too”.

“It weren’t like we weren’t keepin’ it from ya either, Twi. We only just heard and were about ta come and get ya, but then y’all came in, just as we were discussin’ it”.

“Discussing what?” Twilight said with a frown. “What was the message about, what did it say? From the way you’re all talking about it, I can guess that it wasn’t anything good”. The purple mare felt her heart lurch in her chest. “What’s happened, has Equestria been taken over? Has somepony died?”

“Not exactly, Twilight,” Rarity replied. “But there has been a... casualty.”

Applejack sighed and hung her head a moment, before reaching out and putting her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, big green eyes looking into Twilight’s face. “It’s Celestia, Twilight. She ain’t dead, and Luna assured us that she’s gonna recover. She’s just real sick right now, after she pushed herself right hard with her magic to save a whole lot of ponies in Canterlot”.

“She’s out for the count right now,” Spike said, “magic burnout, it drained her out, and from Luna said, it was a pretty spectacular thing she pulled off too, and took out a whole chunk of the Hollow Things by doing it”.

Twilight’s face had become drawn and distraught as she listened, despite the reassurances from Spike, Rarity and Applejack that Celestia’s life wasn’t in danger. Her life through studies in magic and all she’d learned of it throughout her adventures and past, and her own experiences had showed her that magic burnout could be dangerous, even if all seemed well. And more so, for an Alicorn of Celestia’s power and experience, of thousands of years of life and practice with magic and her connection with the vast power of the sun itself to be drained to the point of magic burnout. That left her in a deeper grip of worry and terror about the Hollow Things.

“Twilight, are you… okay?” Rainbow Dash said cautiously from her seat on the table as she looked toward Twilight, where the alicorn had sat on her haunches, eyes looking into the middle distance she she spiralled into her thoughts.

“Oh dear”, Fluttershy said a she lifted from her seat with a zip of her wings and flitted over to where they had gathered to one side of the big dining hall. The butter-yellow pegasus wrapped her forelegs around Twilight and squeezed her firmly, nuzzling her head alongside the alicorn. Twilight sighed softly into her friends’ pink mane and slowly lifted her own foreleg, wrapping Fluttershy into a hug and giving a gentle shudder.

“It’s all right, Twilight,” she murmured softly. “I know it seems scary right now, but Celestia is a strong pony. She’ll be all right. And her sister is there to look after her too. They have faith in you, and so do all of us and a lot of other ponies. Whatever we do, it’ll be fine, and so will she”.

Twilight made a strangled sound and pulled back from Fluttershy’s mane, looking into her big, soft eyes and between her and the others.

“But how can you know that? How can we know that?! If even Celestia couldn’t beat them-”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash said firmly, lifting up from her chair and zipping over to her friends and hovering above them, and looking down with a fearless expression on her face. “Come on, Twilight! We already know Celestia’s going to be all right; after all: she’s awesome, and she always has been. She kicked some flank, and showed those Hollow punks that Equestria isn’t just gonna roll over and die. And I mean, look at us; we’ve always been that awesome. We’re the Elements of Friggin’ Harmony; we’ve kicked all sorts of tail over the years, gone on quests to who-knows-where and come back stronger. And sure; we might be here instead of in Equestria, but all of our awesome friends are still there to give those things a kick in the teeth until we turn up and show ‘em how it’s done!”

Pinkie bounced up from her seat and onto the table top itself, leaning over to Twilight with a characteristically enormous smile on her face.

“Dashie is right; as long as we’re always together we can do anything, especially since everything we do is always fun, too! We’ll get through it Twilight, and Celestia will be fine. We’ve always done it before, and I know we’ll do it again this time too. You’ll see!”

She wrapped her forelegs around Twilight in a hug, and the other girls – and Spike – piled into the group hug. Twilight felt some of the anxiety drain from her as her friends pressed against her. North smile warmly at the display of friendship from the seven as she sat at her place on the table, clearing her throat gently when the group split apart and Twilight looked toward the dappled pegasus as she smiled brightly at them all.

“It’s good to see such a strong friendship. And I know you’ll all get through this too, I can see it just from the way you all are together. The clouds have cleared now, and hopefully the charts and supplies I’ve passed on to you all will help you along on your journey, wherever it takes you”.

Twilight gave a smile in reply that felt that much more genuine as it crossed her muzzle. “Thank you, North. You’ve done a lot to help us, and I can’t thank you enough. We probably would have wandered in those clouds until we ran out of food or crashed into some mountains if you hadn’t found us. Now we’re actually able to set off on the right course, and we’re that much closer to our destination too”.

The pegasus mare shook her head with a bashful smile, swishing her tail gently and ruffling her wings. “Oh, please Twilight; it’s nothing. It’s just what I do and I’m glad to do it. Especially if it’s something that can help Equestria. After all, it’s all of our home and it’s important to all of us. Your journey is important to all ponies and other creatures. Even the smallest thing I can do to help I’ll be glad for”.

“Thank ya kindly, North,” Applejack replied warmly with a nod and a smile, tipping her hat to the pegasus. “Y’all have been a gracious host, an’ I have ta say fer one, gettin’ a night in somethin’ other than a ships’ bunk was a treat too”.

“Absolutely, darling,” Rarity added. “Your home is simply divine, and you’ve been a most wonderful hostess to us all. Thank you for all you’ve done for us”.

The pegasus’ cheeks had a tinge of red to them at the thanks heaped upon her, and she dug at the tiled floor of the room with one fore-hoof as she looked down bashfully. “You’re most welcome,” she said in reply, tossing her long mane shyly. “As I said, I’m just glad to be able to help. Best luck on your journey, and I’m sure all of you will succeed in your quest as well”.

The group made their way to the entrance hall. The few bags they had bought in had been arranged by the doors, and the ponies – and dragon – slung them over their backs or shoulders. North wished them farewell once more and trotted alongside them down to where the Sun Chaser was moored. They waved as they looked over the deck railing as the gangplank was pulled aboard, and the airships’ engines came to life a throbbing rumble. Shielding her face from her hair as it danced in the gusts across the mountain meadows and squinting up against the bright sunshine, North Star raised her wings in salute of her new friends as they left, ascending into the azure brightness of the skies, and moving east, onward into the unknown.

Aboard the airship, the others turned as Twilight leant down off of the rail and lifted the navigation device Livvy had given her from out of her saddlebags. She felt a thrill run through her, mingled with relief as the holographic map floating in the air above the crystalline base pulsed an arrow in the direction they headed, strong and clear now, rather than the fractured and jumbled signal it had shown while they were lost within the cloud. As the airships’ propellers kicked in at full power, the ship caught a strong wind, tossing the manes of the ponies on deck. Clear and fresh, it filled Twilight’s nose and lungs with vigour and she felt a renewed drive to press on with their mission. Her beloved mentor may have fallen in battle, but she had shown the way, fighting to save her little ponies and all the other creatures of Equestria. And while she may be down, she wasn’t finished – like Equestria itself, she wasn’t done yet. It wasn’t over yet, because they still had each other, and that still gave them hope.

Author's Note:

I LIVE

And so does this story!
I have a whole bunch of chapters written that I hadn't posted. I'm not sure why; I just lot track of things and a bit of momentum. But a friend - who's OC is in the story! - reminded me of this, and a few others chimed in too, and it encouraged me to start work on it again.

I'll be posting the remaining written chapters two a week, while I work on new ones as well, and hopefully bringing the story closer to the end as I go!