Rebirth of Magic: Zipping It

by The Blue EM2

I Saw the End of War

As we were shephered through the corridors (and although I'm not one for fancy clothes I have to say it was nice to be out of that jumpsuit), it wasn't hard to see that something was going on.

The guards loyal to Gulfstream were struggling to contain the uprising. Weapons fire was running through the streets as our allies pushed forward to clear the way.

I noticed that a lot of them were saying the same thing. Haven lives.

So it seemed mom was the rallying point of the revolution! This was interesting. The populace still cared about us, even after what we did.

More assets pushed forwards as we cleared more corridors down below. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"We're heading for the helipad!" the Colonel replied. "We have a chopper ready to go and fly you two out of the city to a safe zone!"

Another guard, seemingly on the side of Gulfstream, was surprised to see us. "What? Trea-"

A hail of weapon fire stopped him in his tracks.

Opwinden shook his head. "The only traitor here is you." We then pushed onwards, hearing the sound of weapons fire echoing all around us. Was this what being in the middle of the Boston Uprising had been like?

As we pushed out of the palace, we got a view of the city below. The rebellion was larger in scale than I'd even imagined. Both regular soldiers and partisans were fighting together against Gulfstream's men, who were pushing against them. Several tanks rolled across a bridge, but each was suddenly and spectacularly blown up by missile fire.

A fighter jet, some sort of ground attack aircraft, flew overhead. "Good work, guys!" the Colonel radioed.

"You too, Colonel. Ensure Her Majesty gets to safety."

That we could do. We moved at speed across the courtyard, briefly overhearing Gulfstream berating his troops.

"WHAT DO I PAY YOU IDIOTS FOR? SHOOT THE REBELS AND THE QUEEN! THEY ARE SURPLUS TO OUR NEEDS!"

I glanced to mom. "Sounds like he just rang the dinner bell for his assets here."

"You have a remarkable knack for inspiring confidence sometimes, Zipp," mom replied, as we weaved around the outer courtyard.

We sprinted round the side of the palace, which was now sitting on its own in the middle of a fight. A fully blown tank battle was raging up and down the plaza, as units from the Household Cavalry were in combat against other armoured units. Unfortunately, it seemed Gulfstream had re-equipped units loyal to him with more advanced vehicles, as the Household Cavalry were struggling to hold ground.

Planes duelled in the sky as the revolution continued. I saw the screens in the distance, and marvelled still at the sight driving our allies forward to victory.

The message HAVEN LIVES was bring broadcast nonstop on the screens.

This resistance was well resourced if they gained control of ZBS and communications networks.

We pushed onwards to the destination, and soon found what we were looking for. A technician looked up. "Haven lives!" he called. "Sorry for the delay, but we haven't finished refuelling the chopper yet."

"Well can you hurry it up?" The Colonel said. "We're on a rather right schedule."

"I'll try sir, but-"

The crack of a rifle sounded, and the technician slumped against the control panel, a single bullet in the back of his head.

"AMBUSH!" Zoom shouted. "Somepony bring that sniper down!"

Ponies dived into cover, and the Colonel pushed mom out of view whilst I dived behind the fuel control point. With the technician dead and such a difficult defensive position to hold, it seemed like we stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I reached over to the controls and moved the fuelling levers. The display updated to show fuel was being added to the tanks, but it would still take a few minutes for refuelling to complete.

"This might take a few minutes!" I shouted.

"We don't have a few minutes!" Thunder shouted back, who was pinned down by sniper fire. There wasn't much I could do to help, being a high value target. And I was a pretty awful shot even when I had hands. How do you even operate a firearm with only hooves? Presumably magnet hands is somehow in affect around here.

I hid as best I could as battle continued to rage all around me. More allies had arrived to help hold off Gulfstream's troops, but there was only so long we could hold until we were overwhelmed.

My head stayed down as the bullets continued to fly. This helipad could do with being less exposed. I glanced up and saw a group of fighters on the move, duelling in the air.

I glanced back to the panel. Fifty Percent. Was there really no way to get this pump to go faster?

Orders were being shouted across the field as the defensive perimeter gradually shrank. Gradually the roar of machine gun fire and the cracks of rifles grew more and more silent as more enemy soldiers swarmed in.

Reinforcements (for us) arrived at the rear as infantry closed in. "Glad to see you guys!" I called.

"Sorry for the delay, Your Highness!" called their leader. "We couldn't risk flying our choppers in with the AAA smokescreen that Gulfstream is putting up!"

"Provide extra firepower!" I called.

Seventy Five Percent. I had no idea how much time had passed since I last checked. Every second was feeling like an hour, especially as I could be killed at any moment.

Suddenly, a loudspeaker started up in the distance. "LISTEN HERE, REBELS!" said the voice. "WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! KNOW THAT BY RESCUING THE QUEEN YOU HAVE COMMITTED HIGH TREASON! HAND HER OVER, AND YOUR LIVES WILL NOT BE FORFEIT!"

There was a moment's silence. Then the last voice I expected to hear spoke.

"GO TO TARTARUS!"

Mom?

Suddenly, the fuelling display beeped. This baby was ready to go! "Fuelling complete!" I called.

With that, the perimeter was rebuilt, and the core of the Guard began getting us onboard the chopper. Zoom ran through the startup procedure whilst another soldier manned the chopper gun to slow them down. The defenders continued to fire their weapons on the defenders, and all I could do was watch as devastation continued to rip through the area.

Just then, the whine of aircraft engines emerged again, and several jets roared in before dropping their payload. I covered my face from the heat.

I recognised the smell almost immediately. That was napalm ordnance. We could add that to the long list of war crimes Gulfstream had committed when we dragged his ass in front of the courts.

It was only then we noticed Thunder was absent. "Where's Thunder?" I asked.

Just then a burst of gatling gun fire opened up from a grounded chopper. I briefly glimpsed Thunder at the controls, who was firing away at the enemy troops closing in.

"Thunder, what are you doing?" Zoom radioed.

"Get out of here! I'll hold them off!" Thunder replied. "I may be going to Tartarus, but I'll take as many of them with me as I can!"

Our chopper pulled out of the scene of chaos as the enemy closed in. Fire continued as we flew away, before a missile suddenly streaked through the air and hit the grounded chopper, which exploded.

"THUNDER!"

The chopper pulled away and flew into the skies. The Colonel looked at us, and then handed over some objects. "You'll need these from now on," he said. "Helmets and flack jackets. Given they may be hunting us, expect more combat."

"And you didn't think to give us these earlier?" I asked.

"There wasn't time," the Colonel admitted. "But we should be safe for now. Where were you needing to go?"

"Bridlewood," I replied. "That's where my friends are heading."

The Colonel blinked. "That's deep within unicorn territory. I'm not sure they'd take too kindly to a group of pegasi touching down there."

"We don't really have a choice on that front. That and my mom's your boss."

The Colonel nodded. "Zoom? Set course for Bridlewood!"

"In unicorn lands? Is tha-"

"Just do as you're ordered!"

As we thundered over a mountain range, there was a sudden flash, followed by an explosion. "Shit!"

"What's going on?" Opwinden demanded.

"We got hit! Some sort of SAM! I can't hold the chopper! We're going down!"

The chopper's tail rotor had presumably been badly damaged, as we were spinning erratically as we lost altitude. I tried to hold onto Mom as best I could, who seemed to be in a state of panic. "It's happening again," she repeated over and over again.

I buried my head in her chest. I'd escaped one deadly scenario only to be thrown into another, and this time it seemed death was certain.

"We're not gonna clear the mountains! BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

I braced as best I could as the machine slammed into the rock below us.

There were brief flashes of sparks, the tearing of metal... and then everything went black.

Author's Note:

Well, our heroes have escaped, but not for long. What could have attacked them?

The segment at the airstrip is both a reference to the conclusion of Top Gun: Maverick (if you haven't seen it, please do; it's an excellent film) and the battle of Bastogne. In the latter case, the Germans sent a message to the American troops defending the town demanding a surrender. The American commander's reply was one word: NUTS!

The chopper seen in this chapter is based on the Merlin helicopter, specifically the Royal Navy version (pictured above). Although the real aircraft does not count a rotary gun as part of its armament, it could plausibly be fitted. On that note, Zipp is technically incorrect in calling the weapon a gatling gun, but it is common in civilian circles to refer to any weapon with spinning barrels as a gatling gun.

We'll now shift away from Zipp for a bit, and move to somepony else.

Comments

[The Blue EM2]

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Last chapter for now.

[Comickook]

Again, you did a very good job on the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up (even if the next batch for this set isn't going to be until March of next year). REALLY appreciated the efforts of the rebels to protect "Haven" and "Zipp" while the chopper is being fueled and I definitely liked the reaction to the mention of heading for Bridlewood. Of course, the chopper got shot down over the mountains (which is still around the approximate area "Pipp", "Hitch", "Sunny", "Izzy" and "Misty" were in the most recent chapter of "Izzy's" story if I remember correctly). Of course, we know "Zipp" and "Haven", at least, are going to survive the crash (and probably Thunder and Zoom as well given their recurring character status), but we don't know yet HOW.

Anyway, most certainly looking forward to more of this (in "Sunny", "Haven" and "Hitch's" stories AND in Phase 4 of this story).

[The Blue EM2]

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I will admit that them surviving was somewhat a given-if they're dead, how are they telling the story?-but precisely how and what they will go through shall remain a mystery for next time.

[shining paladin]

great chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter and to quote Ukrainian soldier's last words to Russian troops Russian warship, go f--- yourself'

[The Blue EM2]

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Good choices.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

So it seemed mom was the rallying point of the revolution! This was interesting. The populace still cared about us, even after what we did.

Even when things have turned, hope isn't lost.

The message HAVEN LIVES was bring broadcast nonstop on the screens.

was being*

We pushed onwards to the destination, and soon found what we were looking for. A technician looked up. "Haven lives!" he called. "Sorry for the delay, but we haven't finished refuelling the chopper yet."

Just had to happen at a time like this!

I hid as best I could as battle continued to rage all around me. More allies had arrived to help hold off Gulfstream's troops, but there was only so long we could hold until we were overwhelmed.

I'd hate to be in Zipp's position.

I glanced back to the panel. Fifty Percent. Was there really no way to get this pump to go faster?

Apparently not.

"We got hit! Some sort of SAM! I can't hold the chopper! We're going down!"

SAM?

[hmaf43]

Haah.... at this point, you should just upped the rating and be done with it.

It a brutal civil war with guns and armored vehicles. It's a meatgrinder.

It's weird to censored out particular things to keep the E rating.

[The Blue EM2]

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1. Light in the darkness indeed.

2. Fixred.

3. Inconvenient indeed.

4. Same.

5. These things weren't exactly desgned for a hot refuel.

6.Surface to Air Missile.

[The Blue EM2]

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This story is T rated and has been since the beginning (since the opening chapter involves genderswapping).

[The Blue EM2]

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Just wanted to let y'all know that Rebirth of Magic: the Misfit has returned.

TRebirth of Magic: The Misfit

• MLP Gen 5
• Adventure
• Comedy

The life and times of an Earth Pony determined to be herself.

• Sex
• Sunny Starscout
• Mane 5
• Misty

The Blue EM2 · 32k words  ·  27  1 · 955 views

[hyreia]

Okay, Tom in story is definitely way more knowledgable about war history than me. As is the author. I'm guessing that's why there's no real commentary on seeing this uprising happening besides relating it to things.
"A hail of weapon fire stopped him in his tracks." Did he die? Okay, someone else definitely died. Not a lot of commentary on seeing a pony die in front of you? That's fine I guess. Not everyone responds strongly to those things.

Fighter Jets? Huh. So pegasi can sort of fly... with modern military equipment. I'm surprised devices to help regular pegasi fly haven't been invented then. You know, commerical stuff. Pegasi seem to like consumerism. Flight suits and things. evTols based on drone tech? It's a bit weird to see exact human military stuff with ponies. I'd think it'd be adapted more. They have absurd resouces to build fighter jets. I figured they had a hard focus on consumerism only. The palace guards seem more traditional and almost ornamental. Also since Maretime Bay seems practically 1950's esque and unicorns are beatniks.

Sadly I don't know some of the military jargon in this chapter but this is military ponies talking to other military ponies so I guess that's perfectly reasonable for it to go over my head.

The amount of human war machines kind of feels... boringly human? I guess we don't really see much of the pegasi after we leave Zephyr Heights so we don't know what happened to them or what kind of military response they could have.

If this goes full war instead of Cold War I might duck out. War and fighting in stories is kind of just a wall of noise for me (My eyes glazed over a lot while reading FO:E Project Horizons). Not your problem. Just not my thing. I'll keep an eye on this though!

Now to read a JimmyHook story in this shared universe...

[hyreia]

As an aside, I would strongly recommend turning the "Part of the Rebirth of Magic continuity" text in each of these story descriptions into a link like this:
[quote]Part of the [url=https://www.fimfiction.net/group/216908/rebirth-of-magic-a-generation-5-adventure]Rebirth of Magic[/url] continuity.[/quote] So it looks like this:

Part of the Rebirth of Magic continuity.

While they are in the groups and the groups are listed to the right, this isn't as plainly visible on Mobile and when you are in many, many groups, the main one this is in (the Rebirth of Magic) one isn't always at the top. A link would help promote cross-readerish instead of making me refind the group every time.

[hyreia]

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We didn't really get to see much of any of the waterpark though. I guess I wouldn't want to read a whole chapter about it of course, but maybe it could've been tied into the later scene? I think the scene with the Queen crying about Charles sort of served the same purpose in this chapter. I found that part pretty interesting.

[hyreia]

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On my way with the Misty story! I guess I'm not used to stories that aren't self-contained. This is probably a lot easier to read along as chapters come out, but reading it after the fact as a story, there's some frustrating gaps or scenes being glossed over, it seems. I appreciate the series conceptually though.

[The Blue EM2]

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1. That didn't cross my mind when writing, to be honest. As for the hail of fire bit, that's meant to indicate our protagonist is desensitised to violence.

2. Public transit built around aircraft was seen earlier in the story, and there was a reference to airliners as well. I also think I mentioned delivery drones? I'll check.

3. Personally, I also find writing total war pretty boring as well. Keeping it to Cold War secret ops stuff is way more interesting.

[The Blue EM2]

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I'll copy this in and ask Jimmy to do the same.

[The Blue EM2]

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Fair enough. As this was the first story in the series to be written, it does suffer from early installment weirdness.

[The Blue EM2]

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I am aware that multi-story narratives aren't for everybody, but thank you for reading regardless.