Ace combat: Shattered Rainbows

by Brotato

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Spreading her wings, Rainbow Dash rolled to dodge a spotlight as she continued her descent toward Stalliongrad’s Detention Center. The goggles she received from the armory easily let her spot the guards on the roof. Most of them were busy watching around the side of the building for intruders, not noticing her in the air. Silently landing on the building, she dove in the darker shadow of two large air conditioners as a gryphon patrolled by.

“Come on, focus Rainbow. Remember your hoof-to-hoof training.” Peeking around the corner, she spotted the guard had stopped next to the doorway leading downstairs, Its back pointed toward her.
“Really? Just my luck.” Putting out a hoof, the gravel on the roof made a soft crackle, but the loud whirring coming from the air conditioners easily drowned it out. Slowly sneaking behind the gryphon, she lunged for Its neck, twisting as hard as she could.

The way the body suddenly sagged under her hooves gave her mixed emotions of triumph and queasiness. Dragging the body behind the air conditioners, she got a better look at the guard. He wore a dark green vest with several front pockets; his pistol was still holstered. Checking the vest for anything useful, she felt something jingle. Opening the flap, she found a small key-chain with two keys on it; one of them was conveniently labeled “Rooftop Entrance”.

“I take that back, I like my luck.”

Cautiously reaching the door, she found the key fit perfectly. Quickly entering before some pony spotted her, she quietly closed the door behind her and slumped against it. Pulling her goggles up to her forehead, she looked at her new surroundings. She was standing in a white-painted spiral stairwell; on a nearby wall, the number three showed she was on the third floor. She scrunched her face in distaste.

“With how big the building looked while flying here... This might take a while.” A sudden burst of static from a nearby speaker nearly scared the cutie mark off of her flank.

“Attention! guards needed in block D. Uncooperative pony is in need of detainment.” With a click, the intercom turned off.

“Well, at least I have an idea where he might be.” Going down to the first floor, she stopped in front of a door leading deeper into the building. Pressing down the metal bar slowly, she poked her head through the small opening. The empty hallway was dark, only several light fixtures that flickered gave off any light. This part of the building seemed abandoned, paint flaked off the walls and the floor had spots missing tile. Putting her goggles back on, she snuck against the wall, trying to look as small as possible. Upon reaching a four-way cross-section, she threw a glance each way. To the left was another empty hallway, in front a simple door, and to the right were metal double doors. Trying her luck she turned right toward the metal double doors; the faint sound of conversation came from the other side. Very carefully pushing it open, she lifted her goggles and peered through the crack of light she made.

An anger welled up inside her as she saw a cafeteria packed with ponies who had been captured. Up above, a gryphon carefully watched the mass for any trouble-makers. The room was bright with florescent light, making sneaking impossible. Hastily slipping inside and staying behind a low wall, she scanned the room for more enemies. She counted at least four, plus a bored cook as she served some nasty smelling slop which Rainbow could smell from here.

“If I attack one, the others will likely try to set off the alarm.” A crazy idea popped in her head, one she hoped would work. Looking around the low wall, she tried to get some pony’s attention. “Psst! psst!” Finally catching a glance from a brown earth pony, his eyes widened when he noticed the dark figure. She did her best to mouth what she was trying to say. “Spread the word, start a food fight to distract the guards.”

The winged stallion peered closely, having trouble trying to see what she was trying to convey, but finally understood. Leaning toward the pony next to him, he whispered the message for it to be passed along. After several minutes of waiting for the message to spread, suddenly a voice yelled out in the cafeteria. A blue unicorn jumped on a table, his tray in one hoof as he threw it at one of the guards. “Food fight!”

Every pony threw their trays at the four guards, covering them in the disgusting smelling slop. Springing out of cover, Rainbow Dash leaped toward the nearest guard who was about to assault a prisoner. Flying above the gryphon and spinning around, she bucked the back of his head, causing him to fall unconscious. Several cheers could be heard as she continued to the next guard, grabbing the slop covered neck, she wrestled against the guard before snapping it. “Still effective,” she noticed grimly, still feeling queasy doing it. Several prisoners joined in fighting as they pony-piled on one of the guards, holding it down by sheer numbers. The last gryphon made a bee-line for the alarm, but Rainbow Dash was faster and managed to slam the guard over a table as prisoners piled on top of him also.

As the battle died down, the prisoners immediately began to free their wings and horns from their bindings and anti-magic covers. The earth pony who spread the word to start the food fight walked up to Rainbow Dash, a shocked look on his face. “Y-You’re Rainbow Dash! I know that mane anywhere!” The other ponies had gathered around, noticing as well and gave thanks and generally gushed at meeting her. Rainbow dash eagerly soaked up the spotlight. “What are you doing here?”

She snapped out of her ego-trip. “I’m actually here to find a pilot named Lightning Spark, do you know where I could find him?”

The male pony shook his head. “Can’t say I’ve heard the name, but if I had to guess, he’s either being questioned in Block D, or in his cell at Block C. You can reach both blocks by going through that door.” He pointed at another set of double doors across the room. “But you’ll have to go through Block C, and it’s full of more guards.” A grin crept on his face. “Need help?”

- - - -

The stealth mission had turned into an all out brawl as ponies who were able to fight in the cafeteria joined Rainbow Dash to re-take Block C. The gryphons were lightly armed with spears and pistols, which were easily wrenched from their talons with the help of unicorn magic. It didn’t surprise any pony that the alarm was blaring as the entire Detention Center was now at full alert. Half of the prisoners agreed to stay behind in Block C to hold off any gryphons and open the remaining cells while Rainbow Dash, along with the other half of prisoners, stood in front of the doorway leading to Block D.

“I’ll enter here, the rest of you go around and direct them away from me so I can find Lightning Spark.” Recieving a mix of nods and enthusiastic cheers, they ran in another direction while she opened the door and slipped silently through.

- - - -

Lightning Spark stood still as stone, his eyes watching Gilford’s talon fearfully as he brushed Mist’s mane; even him touching her like that made it hard to stifle his anger. “Fine, what do you want to know?” He said between his teeth. “Just don’t hurt her.”

The gryphon grinned as his mood perked up considerably. “Just what I wanted to hear. Are you familiar with the project created by Celestia a year ago, when technology was at its peak before the war?”

“Yes, project Alicorn... What about it?” He cautiously asked.

“It’s said to grant one the powers of an alicorn through transferring a portion of it’s own essence to another; thereby creating a second, weaker form. I found it an interesting subject to share with my queen and she agreed to create this detention center for me to find information on how it works.”

Lightning laughed, even in this situation he found the entire idea hilarious. “So let me get this straight, you interrogate unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasai to find information on Alicorns? You might want to double-check your notes, you’re wasting your time.”

“And you need to study more on what they are.” Throwing an annoyed look at Lightning. “They embody the three... Lesser ponies so to speak, meaning your kind has a third of the secret to becoming an alicorn. Now tell me the same that Mist told you, word for word.”

“What are you talking about? Mist has been uncon--”

“No! your friend imparted a special saying to you in the past. Something strange that didn’t make sense when you first heard it. A secret word or sequence is hidden in each sentence, one given to each of your kind that unlocks the ability for an alicorn to transfer her power. With or without their consent, if I may add. I have already acquired the Earth Pony and Unicorn sayings, that just leaves... You.”

“Well, I don’t know--” Lightning started a lie, only to be cut short.

“You dolt, she already told me about passing it on to you. The only reason I’m asking you is because she refuses to speak for herself.” Turning his attention toward Mist, he rubbed a talon against her cheek. “And seeing how weak-willed you are when she’s in danger... I was hoping you would tell me.”

“I’ll tell you... Only if you hand over Mist.”

Gilford looked up, an amused expression on his face. “You have no right to bargain, pony.”

“You’re right, I don’t, but where can I go? Like you said, I’m stuck inside here forever. Let me... Hold her at least once, at least let me have that.” He pleaded.

“Hmph, very well.” Dropping Mist’s limp body to the floor, he backed toward the doorway. Stepping forward, Lightning sat on his haunches to pick her up off the floor; to his surprise she slightly stirred in his hooves.

“Well? What did she tell you?” He impatiently waited, tapping a talon on his shoulder as he sat upright with his arms crossed.

Looking down at her, he suddenly felt at peace as he repeated the saying. “With our wings we fly, but through our hearts will others soar.” He hugged her closer. “I failed to protect you in the past, Mist. I don’t know how you survived the plane crash, but I will not pass up this second chance to be with you.” He pressed his forehead against hers, tears beginning to form in his eyes. “I love you.”

Suddenly the room turned red as alarms blared throughout the Detention Center. Gilford glanced outside as a guard appeared near the doorway.

“Mr. Gilford, we need to leave. The prisoners are uprising against us and they’ll be swarming in here shortly.”

Looking down at the two ponies, Gilford grimaced. “Very well... but take care of these two, they know too much for their own good.”

The guard pointed his spear at Lightning who Raised his head, glaring up at the guard through furious, tear-stained eyes that would make Fluttershy faint. His gaze meant only one thing:

You shall not take her away from me.

The guard froze in place, wide-eyed in shock. Suddenly a black figure came from behind and wrapped a hoof around the guard’s neck. Struggling to pull the figure off, he slowly went limp as his lack of air knocked him unconscious. Breaking off from the body, the figure stopped in front of the two other ponies on the ground.

His eyes softened as he looked at the dark figure.Seeing the rainbow mane and tail sticking out, he let out a small grin. “Hello Rainbow Dash.”

“Thank Celestia I found you! I’ve come to get you the hay out of here!” Her head tipped down, looking at the pony he was holding. “Is that who I think it is?” Lightning nodded, stroking Mist’s frazzled, blue mane.

“We need to get out of here. Do you have transportation away from this Luna forsaken place?”

“I have a helicopter waiting for us outside of Stalliongrad. I can give her a yell to meet up with us on the rooftop.”

“Please do.” Slowly placing Mist on the ground, he slowly stood up. “Do you think you can carry her? I’m weak enough as is.” Rainbow nodded before kneeling down to roll Mist on her back. Standing back up, she trotted out the door with Lightning following next to her. As they walked down the hallway, they both watched as ponies ran everywhere, searching for stray threats or friends in trouble. Several threw a cheer at Rainbow Dash as they ran by, which she returned gladly. “Uhh... Rainbow, what did you do?”

“Oh, just a little uprising to tidy the place up,” letting out a cheeky smile. “Too much gryphon, not enough pony.” Upon reaching Block C, cheers and hollers of victory welcomed her back; the Detention center was finally taken over and every pony was free.

“I hope you have enough helicopters for all these prisoners, Rainbow.” Lightning stared up at the ponies cheering on the railings.

“That won’t be necessary.” A brown earth pony greeted them both. “The gryphons only controlled the detention center. Now with it under pony control, the rest of Stalliongrad will rise up as well.” He smiled at the both-of-them. “You made a lot of friends this day, Rainbow Dash. We hope you will accept us to fight alongside you and the LRAF against the gryphons.”

“Heh, that’s not my call, but I would be honored for you all to join us. I’ll tell Luna about what happened here when we return to base.” Shaking each others hooves, they left Block C, backtracking the way she snuck in. Quickly trotting up the stairs toward the rooftop, Rainbow relaxed upon seeing the guards were gone, leaving the three of them alone. “Give me a second while I radio spring.” Gently setting Mist down on a metal box, she walked away to call for transportation. “This is Pegasus two, to Spring Heart. Are you there, Spring?” No response came, so she tried again. “Spring Heart come in, this is Pegasus Two ready for extraction! where the hay are you?”

A yawn came from her earpiece. “Yeah, yeah I hear ya. Didn’t think you would finish so quickly! I look forward to hearing how you did it.”

“Just get your flank over here, I’m tired as buck and just want to go back to bed.”

Spring chuckled. “Yeah, aren’t we all. I’ll be there soon so hang tight.”
A minute later, the sound of helicopter blades could be heard coming from the south. Circling around the building once, Spring found a landing spot near the northern edge of the roof. Rainbow Dash picked up Mist once more and walked over to roll her on the helicopter. Spring carefully settled her in one of the seats, strapping her in safely while Rainbow and Lightning jumped inside. Strapping himself in next to Mist, Lightning wrapped a hoof around hers as if she was going to fall out if he didn’t. Spring glanced at the two lovers and blushed a bit before turning around back to the cockpit. Rainbow joined her, settling in the co-pilot seat. Flicking several switches and pulling on the control stick, they lifted off into the night.

“Wake me up when we get to the base, I’m going to take a nap.” Rainbow Dash leaned her head back and quickly fell asleep, today’s mission finally wearing her out. Lightning looked at Mist with half-lidded eyes, mostly out of dreamily looking at the mare next to him than being tired. He still couldn’t believe she was still alive and feared he might be dreaming. Fixing his grip on her hoof, he accidental tugged it, causing her head to lean against his shoulder. He tensed up as his heart beat immediately quickened. She must’ve heard he heartbeat and on instinct, snuggled closer. That didn’t help his blood pressure at all. Looking down at her and seeing how happy she looked, he relaxed. Exhaustion finally wash over him; leaning his head over hers, he quickly dozed off.

“Good night, Mist.”

Comments

[Silverstein]

Excellent chapter!

Silver out!

[flamehaze7461]

Well done. The classic food fight prison riot never seems to get old for me.

[Stellar_]

"What? Who is ringing the Freedom Bell?"