"This is gonna be one helluva highlight reel..." Changelings in Canterlot are one thing. Having an AC-130 fly just outside the city? Pfft, who need the Elements?
One Shot story. For real this time.
An AC-130 appears and unleashes hell on some changelings, varying from 25mm to 105mm! What else did you expect? A rainbow beam would wipe them out? HA. Sit back, shut up, and read it.
It's damn AC-130, why would you not?
The Re-Made chapter takes a more serious tone to the situation. Whether you think it was an improvement to the first is upon you to decide.
May 16, 2011, Hurlburt Field Air Force Installation, near Mary Esther, Florida
Members of the 4th Special Operations Squadron, or S.O.S, were walking down towards their AC-130U 'Spooky'. The squadron was part of the 1'st Special Operations Wing stationed in Hurlburt Field. The 4th S.O.S operated several aircraft ever since its establishment, such as the AC-74 Spooky, C-47 Skytrain, and the EC-135. But since 1995, they've been using the infamous AC-130U 'Spooky' for its operations, which were mostly close air support, armed reconnaissance, and others, but today was a simple flight to an A.F.B in Durban, South Africa and back. The AC-130's are piloted by the 4th Aircraft Maintenance Unit.
"Luis, you better not be nervous about flying over the Bermuda Triangle, I mean, c'mon. You don't seriously believe in that shit, do you?" Asked the co-pilot, Johnathan Mathers as they approached closer to the AC-130.
"I don't know, man. I'm still a bit nervous ever since a Sea Stallion was lost over there. But fuck it, let's just get this over with." Luis Rodriguez walked to the back of the AC-130, which was just finished being loaded with fuel and ammunition for its weapons.
Even though Luis was the loadmaster for the plane, he couldn't help but always stare in awe at the armament this thing contained. A single side-mounted 20mm GAU-17 Equalizer Gatling Gun capable of 1,800 RPM, a Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft autocannon, which in his eyes, was just a machine gun that shoots artillery shells, and his favorite, the 105mm M102 Howitzer that fires 33 pound shells. One of the differences that the Spooky had over other designs were that it has an improved firing system and an increased ammo capacity for all three guns.
"Okay, let's get this shit started. Are the guns loaded?" Asked the pilot, Franklin Joneston.
"Yes sir! The guns are loaded and operational. And you got enough fuel to make it to the base. Just watch out when you fly over the Bermuda Triangle" The loader said, chuckling as he walked away towards one of the hangars.
Franklin just rolled his eyes as him and the rest of his crew got inside the AC-130, starting it up and taxing on the runway. One of the areal gunners, Hudson Porter, was double checking the 105mm howitzer, while Luis was loading it up, then ran up to one of the other gunners, James Coltares, with his GAU-17 being loaded from the ammo bay. Luis gave him a thumbs up as he went to the next gunner, Kevin Martinez, who looked away from the 40mm and waved at Luis
"Yo, Luis! Help me out here, will ya?" He asked. Luis nodded and went to help him load the 40mm, while the T.V operator, fire control officer, electronic warfare officer, and infrared set detection operator got into their seats in the battle management area and turned on their equipment and electronics. The navigator and flight engineer took their places in the mission avionics area. The AC-130 picked up speed on the runway as it took off. The T.V operator, Marco Hunter, double checked the all light T.V bulb which is outside the right side of the plane. He also checked the infrared sensor, while in the avionics area, the navigator, Gary Johnson, turned on the radar.
"Okay, we're out and rolling. Everything seems to be in check.. fuel is perfect, guns are loaded, and the skies are clear. We should be there in about four or five hours." Confirmed Johnathan as he looked around the skies "Hey Tony, how's the engine and everything else doing?" He asked over the radio.
Tony Latherson, the electronic warfare officer, double checked the overall statistics on the engine, fuel, and other equipment. The AC-130U has four HP Allison T-56-A-15 turboprop engines, with about 4,910 horsepower, and it's top speed it 300 miles per hour. The AC-130U also has the ability to fly at a maximum height of 25,000 feet, and can fly 1,300 nautical miles, but can circle the globe if refuel'd mid-air once.
"Uh, roger, Johnny, everything's in check, and good to go." Tony said as he gave a thumbs up at the others in the battle management area.
"Alright, good. How about those guns? They locked 'n loaded?" Johnathan asked the gunners.
"105mm is good to go." Replied Hudson.
"40mm is ready for action." Spoke Kevin.
"25mm is ready to tear some shit up!" Said James, somewhat giddy.
"Alright, all passengers, please sit back, enjoy the view, and sip a beer while your pilot here plays a song to pass the time." Spoke Johnathan in a cliche co-pilot voice.
"Yo, Johnathan. Let me pick the song this time, will ya? I AM the one who put in the stereo system. you lazy bastard." Gloated Franklin. Johnathan nodded and handed him his MP3. After plugging it into the stereo system, he scrolled down until he found the perfect song.
Even over the roar of the song, and propellers, he heard the entire crew whoop in joy as they flew over 23,000 feet above the Miami. Johnathan just smirked as they flew along. Once the song ended, he tried put up another similar one, until Tony spoke over the radio.
"Hey, put 'Fortunate Son' on by Creedence Clearwater Revival! Oh, and also, we should be flying over the Bermuda in about an hour or so." Tony said, but in the background, Luis shouted.
"Yeah, fuck you too man! Fuck you too!" He shouted back, making most of the crew members laugh in response.
"Alright, alright! Settle down. I'll put the song up." He said as he scrolled and found the song Tony requested.
As the song went on, Tony kept humming to the beat, much to the annoyance of the others nearby.
"Hey Tony, can you please shut the fuck up?" Luis asked over the radio. "You're banshee-like humming is making me nauseous.."
Tony just chuckled. "All the more reason to keep doing so, buddy." He replied.
"I'm only telling you once, Tony..." Luis warned with as sigh. Tony just kept on humming, albeit a bit less louder than before.
The AC-130 kept flying as everyone just focused on what they were supposed to do, until Tony spoke up again "Alright, we've just entered the Bermuda Triangle. In fact.. I think we're flying just above the area where the Sea Stallion was lost. I'm noticing a couple salvage ships from the Coast Guard down below. And the sky's getting a bit cloudy."
"No shit, Sherlock, we're over the ocean." Spoke Hudson "Of course there's gonna be some clouds."
"Uh.. yeah. But these clouds just appeared out of fucking no where. The skies were clear before.." Said Tony with a bit of worry in his voice.
Johnathan and Franklin thought about it for a second. They skies were clear, but now, in front of them, was a huge, dark cloud wall, which seemed to stretch for miles on each side.
"Should we be just go back to base and tell 'em we couldn't make it due to odd weather?" Suggested Luis, which made James and Kevin laugh.
"Pfft, dude. You're such a pussy. We've avoided SAM's, jets... the whole nine-fucking yards.. and you're pissing your pants because of a wall of dark clouds?" Joked Kevin "C'mon. We can fly through. Besides, I don't hear any thunder or lightning. Do you, Frankie?"
Franklin checked at the clouds again, seeing that there was no sign of thunder of lightning "Nope, nothing. Might just be a couple of rain clouds, or just regular grey clouds."
Luis sighed "Okay, but if we go down, get teleported, or some shit, I blame you for us going out in a cliche-type of way, got it?" He pointed at nobody in particular.
Franklin replied "Uh.. okay, Luis. Don't trip, okay dude?"
"What? I wasn't talking to you." Luis said, confused.
"Wait, huh? Then who WERE you talking to?" Franklin asked.
"The re- nevermind. I was. Just forget it. But remember, it's your plane.. and all of our funerals." Luis said jokingly.
Franklin rolled his eyes as the AC-130U flew into the dark clouds. The plane flew calmly and steadily within the clouds, but Luis still had an odd feeling about all this, but after about fifteen minutes, things were still going smoothly. He chuckled at himsel for thinking they would be teleported. He eased up a bit as Franklin spoke into the radio.
"Uh.. be advised. Our compasses and navigation equipment is acting a bit oddly here.." Luis froze in fear as Franklin went on "Get the flight engineer up here and see what's up."
"On it." Said the engineer, Samuel Trent. He walked into the cockpit and looked around. The gears, GPS, and the built-in compass were acting oddly, and kept spinning wildly. Trent checked the electrical wires just in case, but the wires were fine. Before he could do anything else though, he heard thunder outside, then Gary spoke in the radio.
"Shit.. looks like we're in a helluva thunderstorm. Wait... my radar keeps blinking on and off! The fuck?.. Hey Trent! Come see what the hell's going on over here!" Tony said with a hint of panic in his voice. Trent went back to the aivionics area and looked at the problem. The radar was fading in and out rapidly. He looked at the cables and other nearby electronics, which were fine. Then the T.V operator spoke.
"Aw hell, we just lost our camera feed!" Marco said in obvious frustration. Before anyone else could do anything, the entire plane was shaken up as a lightning bolt barley missed the right wing by inches, but then the entire plane was showered in a red color as warning beeps went off all around.
"Oh shi... are w... locked o.." Johnathan said over the beeps going off. The radios were cutting off as nearly everyone panicked.
"I FUC.. TOL.. OU GUY..S"
"Therma... maging.. down.."
"Radar is ac....ike craz.."
"Say agai..we're losi...comm.."
"OH SHI..." After that, the radios were dead. Then the plane started tilting to the left slowly, but forcefully. Trent grabbed a hold of a stablized chair as he could hear Franklin yelling angrily to regain control of the plane.
"C'MON, YOU SON OF A BITCH! C'MON!"" He yelled as he pulled the control sticks as hard as he could to the right. After it looked like the AC-130 was gonna fly at a 90 degree angle, he regained full control of the plane and slowly, but gradually, readjusted the plane. Trent let go as he sighed in relief. Falling onto the chair, he heard Johnathan yell out.
"You all okay?!" He shouted.
"We're good." Everyone said in unison.
Johnathan nodded and turned to Trent "Trent, what's the status on our 130?"
Trent stood up and went back to the avionics area, where Tony was re-adjusting the radar. Trent sat down and looked at the statistics on the plane
Weapons: READY Fuel: 87% Hydraulics, oil, and engines: GREEN Stability:98% T.V: ONLINE Thermal-Imaging:ONLINE Radar: ONLINE Communications:OFFLINE GPS: OFFLINE
Trent got up and told Johnathan the statistics "Everything seems to be in order, sir. We have 87% fuel left, oil, hydraulics, engines, propellers, and most of our electronics."
Johnathan raised an eyebrow "What do you mean by most?"
"Well, our comms are down, and so is our GPS. We won't know where we are." Trent said. Before Johnathan could respond, Franklin spoke up.
"I think we're about to find out. I see the blue sky ahead!" He shouted. The others clapped and whooped in relief. Johnathan then noticed that the gunners were picking up loose 40mm shells from the floor.
"Hey Trent. Go help Luis and the gunners restore the fallen shells." He said. Trent nodded and made his way to the back of the plane. Johnathan then turned around, noticing that Franklin had already flown them out of the clouds and back into the regular, white clouded blue skies.
"Finally.." He said, then yelled at he T.V operator "So, are we over the Anlantic, or what?"
Marcus was tring to get a closer view of the surface, but several clouds were covering the view "Um... hang on. These clouds are thick as hell.." He then switched to black-hot thermal to see if he could get any heat signatures. What he saw shocked him.
"Um.. h-holy shit. I see several heat signatures below.. damn.."
"How many heat signatures?" Johnathan asked.
"It looks like a swarm of bees.. hold up, the clouds are clearing up." Marcus waited patiently for the clouds to dissapear from veiw. Once they did, he gasped at the sight.
"O..okay. We're flying next to what seems like a huge castle over a cliff, with what looks like a pretty rich town around it.. and a city wall surrounding the outside." Marcus said in utter shock.
Johnathan chuckled "My fucking ass.. lemme see this bullshit." He got up and walked to the battle managment area to see for himself.
"You must be so full of shi-" His thoughts were immediatley destroyed and forgotten when he looked at the screen. Everything he said was right, but he noticed that the entire area was covered in heat signatures. Marcus zoomed in for a better view. He saw what looked like thousands of black, hole covered, winged horses. And they were attacking other horses, about six of them who had different colors and were running through the town as the black horses slammed onto the ground around them, but missing them every time..
"Oh Jesus.. why the- how- who-?" He was at a loss of words as he stared at the screen in awe.
Franklin saw their reactions, then noticed that the AC-130 was flying right outside the walls of the city, about 15,000 feet above. More black horses were flying into the town and castle, ignoring the Angle of Death that was flying nearby. He then turned to the gunners and shouted.
"Hey! You guys finished loading up?" He asked. They nodded in reply.
"Good. We're about to rain down some hellfire!" Franklin shouted with a devilish grin appearing afterwards. Th gunners nodded again as Franklin tilted the AC-130 to the left a bit, so the gunners could shoot down at those weird horses below.
In the ground below...
The Element bearers were running through the town, trying to get the Elements of Harmony from the Canterlot Tower, while avoiding changelings on the way, who have broken the barrier and were diving towards them. One of the changelings dived in front of Twilight and hissed at her. She stomped both of her hooves into its face, and ran over it, the others doing the same.
They then stopped when a large group of changelings surrounded them, itching for a fight.
"Well, I guess we're gonna have to do this the hard way!" Rainbow Dash said, hitting her hooves together. She was then confronted by another Rainbow Dash. They both looked at each other with the same moves and looks of confusion, until the doppleganger bucked Rainbow with its hind legs, sending her to fall on her back.
The rest of the girls looked at the rest of the changelings, many of which turned into Rainbow at first, but started copying the rest several times over. Rainbow gathered herself and they all got into position, and started fighting back.
Meanwhile inside the AC-130...
Hunter was looking at the T.V monitor, paying close attention to the horses. He noticed that one horse with rainbow hair was kicked in the chest by one that looked exactly like her.
"Ouch.. that's gonna be one helluva bruise." He said as he payed closer attention. He was shocked when the black horses transformed themselves into exact copies of the colored horses. At the same time, Franklin yelled at him.
"Okay, you are clear to engage those weird black horses. Those poor bastards are being overrun.."
Hunter objected "Negative, negative. I can't tell who's who down there!"
"The hell do you mea-" Franklin was cut off as Hunter continued.
"I mean, those horses just made themselves look like the colored ones, I shit you not."
Franklin would normally call bullshit on this, but the fact that they were most likely in another planet or dimension made his doubts shrivel into dust and fly away with the wind "Uh.. okay them. But once you can tell the difference, light 'em up."
Hunter complied "Understood. Damn, they can fight." He watched in suprise and awe as the look alikes were turned back into the weird black horses. He also saw that a pink horse had a small, pink cannon, where she aimed it at the oncoming horses and shot a volley of confetti at them, which he found comical. After a while, the original six horses were the only ones standing, having knocked and beaten the living hell out of the black horses. Hunter was very impressed at how they handled at least 100 of those things. The colored horses started running again, when they saw another swarm of the black horses flying at them, probably twice the size of the of the first wave.
Hunter then switched back to white hot thermal imaging, and yelled out at the gunners "Hey! Get the 105 ready! We're clear to fire!"
Franklin then yelled out "Try not to hit any horse that isn't black, or has holes in them, okay?"
Hunter then zoomed in with the camera, switching to control the 105. The screen said that the 105 was loaded, and it was further confirmed as the 105 gunner yelled out at him.
"Gun ready!"
Franklin shouted out "Wait! Let me play a song to get our spirits up, and our blood rushing!" He then got the MP3, re-plugged it in, and played a song that would fit this entire situation.
Hunter thought for second as the guitar rift played through the plane, but then recognized the song when these words were shouted out..
"THUNDER!"
He smirked as he yelled out, feeling an adrenaline rush coarse through his veins.
"THUNDER!"
Hunter then carefully positioned the crosshairs over a building, he saw that the six horses were running rapidly from the oncoming swarm, which were approaching the building fast. The fire control officer looked at him, and gave a thumbs up.
"THUNDER!"
The AC-130 shook a bit, as the 105mm cannon shot off a 33 pound shell towards the ground below, letting out a loud boom in the process.
"THUNDER!"
On the ground below...
The mane six were panting, and frantically looking around, as the dust settled and the bodies of knocked out changelings were sprawled all over the ground.
"Wow.. that was too easy, actually. We whooped their flanks!" Said Rainbow with a breathless chuckle, as the others smiled in reply. But then Applejack spoke up.
"Um.. ah think ya spoke a bit too soon, Rainbow. Look!" She said as she pointed a hoof behind the girls. They turned around and saw a huge swarm of changelings, about twice the size of the group they just fought. They could hold them off, but they were wasting time, and figured it'd be more easier and less time-consuming if they went for the elements in the tower, and then dealt with them.
"We're wasting time, girls! Let's go to the tower, get the elements, and then we'll deal with them!" Shouted Twilight. The others complied as they started towards the tower, with the changelings right behind them. Before they could even get halfway, they heard a loud boom up in the sky.
"What in tarnation was that?!" Applejack said, halting at the sound.
"Look! Up in the sky!" Rainbow yelled, also stopping and pointing a hoof at a weird object up in they sky. The girls looked at it for a second, before turning their attention to what seemed like a white streak soaring down to them, but then they heard a series of hisses.
"Oh BUCK! RUN!" Shouted Rainbow, the other girls looked at her in shock, that she just cussed, but before they could run, they saw the white streak connect with a building, making an enormous explosion, ans sending both debris and changelings flying all over the place. The girls looked in shock as the dome on the roof started tilting on the swarm on changelings below, who were either injured, dead, or fazed from the explosion. The remaining changelings then looked up in horror and screamed as the dome came crashing down on them, crushing them and making bigger wall of dust and dirt.
Meanwhile on the AC-130...
"It's shot!" Shouted Luis, as Hunter heard him load another shell.
Hunter watched through the T.V, which was using FLIR(Foward Looking Infra-Red) imaging, as the anti-aircraft shell soared down to the ground. He saw that the colored horses looked up to the AC-130U, and then put their attention to the approaching shell, they then looked at one of the horses, until they looked towards the black horses, who were right under the building.
"YOU'VE BEEN... THUNDERSTRUCK!" The song said at the perfect moment
"Perfect.." Hunter said as the shell impacted with the building, making a huge explosion. He heard the fire control officer let out a low whistle, signifying that he was impressed, but Hunter looked on, noticing that most of the horses were either dead, injured, or fazed. Either way, he saw a lot of body parts and sprawled bodies all over the place.
"Good shot, I see lots of little pieces down there.." Said the FCO, but that was before he and Hunter saw the building collapse on top of the remaining horses, who had a look of horror on their faces as they disappeared under the rubble, forming another cloud of dust and debry.
"OH-HOHOH! Damn! That was kinda overkill, Hunter.." Said the FCO, with a hand over his mouth.
Hunter chuckled "I think the fact that we're in an AC-130 is already overkill." He said, the FCO nodded as they both turned back the screen.
On the ground...
The girls looked in awe and horror as the cloud of dust covered the scenery in front of them. Fluttershy was shaking in utter horror, but the rest of the girls started running towards the tower, hoping that whatever that giant thing in the sky was trying to help them. Applejack carried a shock-stricken Fluttershy over her back as they kept running.
"I hope that thing is really trying to help us..." Twilight spoke while running. Rainbow however, had a different idea.
"That thing nearly killed us! If that thing tries to do anything else, I'm gonna go up there and whoop its rump to Tartarus and back!" She said, taking a glance back up at the weird flying thing. Her face looked at it with a look of anger as she turned around to look in front of her, but her thoughts of anger were replaced with a look of shock, as another wall of changelings, both on the ground, and flying, where standing between them and the staircase that lead to the the bridge, that lead to the tower.
"Oh, come ON!" Rainbow said in annoyance, but the other girls took their stance and prepared to fight, until they heard about ten booms in the sky. They all looked up, and saw ten white streaks soaring to them again.
"INCOMING!" Shouted Twilight as they dived for cover. The streaks connected with the ground, making simultanious explosions, and a shockwave that increased in force as more and more of the streaks came crashing down. Their screams were drowned out by the explosions and shouts of terror and pain from the changelings, who were the ones being pummled by the explosions.
Meanwhile, in the AC-130...
Hunter gave the orders to shoot ten anti-aircraft rounds down towards the black horses that formed a barrier between the colored horses and a bridge. He watched on the T.V as the plane shook a bit from the shells being fired. The six horses looked up again, and then dived for cover as the shells impacted with the black horses, sending several body parts and corpses flying all over, as the gunners fired off seven more shells to clean up any stragglers.
"Heheh... nice." Said the FCO. Hunter just smirked as he saw the six come out of cover. They looked in horror and awe at the carnage in front of them. One of them vomited, as two others helped it out. Then, one of the horses looked up at the AC-130. Hunter zoomed in closer, and saw on its face, that it was clearly very pissed, and it had fucking wings. It spread its wings and flew up to the AC-130 at an unimaginable speed. He jerked back a bit, noticing it left what looked like a rainbow trail behind it, but regained himself as the FCO told him what to do.
"Oh shit.." The FCO said, chuckling "I think it's pissed. Switch to the GAU-17, and fire off a few warning shots. If it gets too close, fire on it, and take it down."
Hunter nodded as he switched to the GAU-17. He looked back at the screen, and saw that the horse was halfway towards them, but it stopped and looked at the AC-130 in confusion and curiosity. The plane shook as he shot off the GAU-17, letting out an enormous roar as the bullets streaked just feet away from the horse.
Rainbow Dash's P.O.V
Rainbow has had enough of this thing. She turned around, and saw that Fluttershy had vomited, and looked pretty queasy from the scenery in front of them. Rainbow almost threw up herself as she took in the full view. Those white streaks had killed all of the changelings, and almost killed them as well. She then looked up at the thing, spread her wings, and flew towards the thing at a speed where she could easily pull of a Sonic Rainboom if she went just a bit faster.
"Time to show you who's bo-" Her thoughts were cut off as she slowed down to a halt, hovering as she took in what she was about to face. The thing was huge, about twice the size of the tower that held the elements, and looked like it was made of metal. It looked somewhat fat, but menacing, and it had stiff wings on each side, with what seemed like two propellers on each wing, and it was tilted to the right a bit. It also had windows on the front, but she couldn't see through them to see if anypony was inside the thing. She saw that it had three black, metal tubes sticking out from its side, one of them was small, and more on the front, the other was about three times the size, and was below and behind the wing, while the other one was twice the size of the second one, and was farther back.
"What the hay is-" Rainbow stopped mid-sentance as she saw that the smaller tube was aimed directly at her. Her eyes turned into pinpricks as she saw it spin at an extremley fast rate, then it let out a roaring sound, and letting out a red streak that nearly hit her, but not without the sound leaving a ringing in her ears.
Inside the AC-130...
"YOU'VE BEEN... THUNDERSTRUCK!" The song said for the last time as Hunter saw the horse cover her ears from the sound of the minigun. It then shook its head and flew back down to the ground. He fist pumped as he zoomed the camera closer, and saw the horse land with the others. The horse then pointed its.. hoof? At the plane, and its mouth moved, like it was talking. His eyes widened at this, but the horses did nothing but stare at the plane. Hunter relaxed as they ran up towards a set of stairs, and onto a bridge. The horses then turned around, and saw another swarm of those black horses landing on the bridge. One of them kicked the doors down and proceeded to move inside, but they started backing up as Hunter saw heat signatures inside the building they wanted to enter. The black horses surrounded them as Hunter sat and watched.
The FCO looked at him in confusion and spoke out "Why the fuck aren't you shooting?!" He shouted.
"I'm not gonna risk it. If I fire, they might get injured or killed. I'll just wait until the perfect time.." Hunter said as he kept watching the screen. The black horses had already restrained the six, and were dragging them through a hallway. He still saw their heat signatures through the glass, then they noticed that they were taken into a large room in the castle, in which he noticed four other heat signatures.
Hunter stood by as he saw through the glass that there was a similar looking black horse, but was taller and had wings. It then walked to a broken window and looked down at the city below, which was still being attacked by the black horses. He then turned to the FCO, who nodded with a devilish grin. Hunter then switched to control the GAU-17 and aimed the crosshairs at the rows of windows.
The AC-130 shook again as the GAU-17 opened fire on the unsuspecting horses below.
Inside the room...
Queen Chrysalis was enjoying every bit of all the chaos roaming around her. She found out that her Alicorn powers were stronger than Celestia's, and that her minions had captured the Element bearers, plus Princess Candance, and had full control of Shining Armor.
Today is a good day.." She thought as she walked towards an open window and looked down at the town, which was being attacked by her minions. She grinned happily as ponies ran all around, screaming and terrified as more of her minions dove down and joined the assault.
She then turned to the mane six, who were glaring daggers at her, but she just laughed and looked back out the window. An idea sprang through her head. Chrysalis wanted to add salt to the wound, so she decided to sing as she looked outside.
"This day has just been perfe-" She was cut of when she heard a loud 'BRRRRT' in the sky. Every pony was confused by the sound, except for Rainbow Dash, who had regained her hearing a bit, and shouted at the top of her lungs.
"GET DOWN!!" She yelled as she hid behind a marble statue. The other girls did the same, while the changelings and Chrysalis looked at them in confusion.
"What are you foals doi-" Chrysalis was cut off once more as windows around her started shattering. One by one, the glass windows broke, sending shards flying everywhere. She looked in awe as more and more windows broke, and a red streak was slicing through her minions with ease, sending them flying and some lost their limbs, and even their heads. Chrysalis looked in horror as the bodies of her changelings were riddled with holes, and were oozing green blood, which had splattered all over her. Then, she felt several unknown objects connect with her body, ripping right through her flesh and organs like they were nothing. She just stood there as she kept a look of horror on her face. Then, a window next to her shattered and the red streak made a small explosion, sending her to the other side of the wall, and making a sickening splat as her eyes rolled back and she died in a pool of her own green blood.
The mane six looked in horror as the weird machine tore the entire room to shreds, killing all of the changelings and Chrysalis, in less than ten seconds flat. Twilight dreadfully looked around, and was relieved that her friends, Cadence, Shining Armor, and Princess Celestial were still alive, but had the same looks as she did. Then, Rainbow ran up to one of the broken windows, avoiding the blood and gore, and looked outside to spot the machine. The other girls did the same, and saw that the machine was flying towards some dark clouds. It then let out several white streaks on its sides and below it, making an angel pattern as it flew out of view and into the clouds.
March 1, 2011, Hurlburt Field Air Force Installation, Near Mary Esther, Florida. 18 days before the beginning of Operation Odyssey Dawn
"So what's the job today, boss?" The co-pilot, Johnathan Mathers asked the main pilot, Franklin Joneston as they walked out one of the main hangars after equipping their gear.
"Nothing much, just a regular fly-over to an Air Force base before we get deployed to Libya." Franklin responded as the two came upon the sight of their main aircraft they usually used, a Lockheed AC-130U.
"And where's the base at? Cape Town?"
"Nah, Durban. We're just gonna stop there for a quick check-up on things and such. Nothing much."
As they got closer to the AC-130, they stopped to put their helmets over their heads, strapping them on as they fixated their radio systems and mics so they could speak louder and clearer over the sound of the propellers.
"If that's the case, then why are we going with our weapons fully-loaded?" Asked Johnathan over the mic.
"Things are getting really heated up over there in Libya. Never know when we might get called in, so that's why we got the extra fuel. Hell, we even got our Navy boys prepping missiles just off the coast."
"I know about the fuel, but why the weapons?"
"Same reason. Also, we've been getting reports of our boys over at Durban that some crazy militia or some drug lord has gotten their hands on a couple of fucking Stinger missiles from North Korea itself. It never hurts to come prepared, you know that!"
Johnathan just shrugged. "Just curious is all."
Franklin chuckled slightly before looking over at him. "How the hell did you get into the Air Force, let alone the 4th Special Ops Squadron?"
Johnathan sighed. "Sometimes, I ask myself the same fucking question."
They then chuckled again as Franklin turned to one of the maintenance operators, who was just finishing checking the outer FLIR camera. "Hey! Is everything good to go?" He shouted, crouching next to the man.
The maintenance operator gave him a thumbs-up. "Yeah, she's all prepped and ready to fly! Just head inside and wait for the rest of the crew to climb on board, and you'll be all set!"
Franklin nodded once as he stood back up. Looking over his shoulder, he motioned Johnathan to climb inside the plane. He then followed Johnathan up the steps, climbing inside to the cockpit. After they took their seats, they started double checking the main electronic equipment, while the rest of the crew boarded the AC-130.
"Let's just get this thing done and dusted." The loadmaster, Luis Rodriguez muttered as he walked alongside one of the areial gunners, Hudson Porter.
"What's got you so nervous all of a sudden?" Hudson asked.
Luis sighed, slowing his pace slightly as he looked at Hudson. "It's just... well, you've heard what happened two weeks ago, right?"
Hudson shook his head. "Well, aside from the fact that we got called in to support combat operations in Odyssey Dawn, Johnathan is going to be part of the CIA soon, and that you're going on another AC-130, I haven't really heard shit."
Luis sighed, agitated before he continued. "No man, I mean... well, you remember when a couple guys from the 160th SOAR came here on-base?"
"You mean the ones that were stationed off the Wasp? Yeah."
"Well don't you fucking remember how they lost a pair of Black Hawks over the Bermuda Triangle? Like, right smack in the middle of the triangle?"
It took Hudson a moment or so to put two and two together before looking at Luis with a raised eyebrow. "Seriously? Come on, you're scared because of the fucking Bermuda Triangle shit. You know there's nothing wrong with that place! It's just the ocean; that's all!"
Luis just shrugged. "I-I don't know, man. I mean, haven't you heard the shit that's happened there ever since 1945? Flight 19? Ring any bells? I mean, we just lost twelve men! Twelve!"
"Dude, they said it was just an electric malfunction. Shit happens."
"I don't think losing twelve fucking spec-ops guys is to blame on an electric failure or shit like that. We lost four SOAR pilots, along with eight MARSOC Marines!"
Hudson sighed as he stopped in his tracks before grabbing Luis by the shoulders, making him stop and look right at him. "Listen. Buddy. Chill the fuck out. We've been through a ton of shit before. Don't let some damn legend or paranormal shit get to your Goddamn head. We're in the fucking Army. Once we come back, you can just go into your bunk and jerk off all your emotions, or whatever kinky shit you do in there, okay bud?"
Luis let out a deep sigh before breathing in through his nose and looking up at Hudson. "O-okay... Okay. I'll get my shit together. Just... a little nervous is all."
Hudson smiled and patted him on his shoulder. "Alright. Good. Now, let's get moving. We're holding up the rest of the crew and they won't be too happy."
Luis smiled slightly and nodded in return before they started double-timing towards the AC-130. Once they arrived, they noticed that the plane was already set for takeoff and that one of the maintenance operators was waiting outside the steps, looking at the two as they approached him.
They saw his lips move, but due to the sound of the propellers, they couldn't hear him so well. They then quickly strapped on their helmets and fixated their radios before responding.
"Mind repeating that?" Hudson asked over the radio.
They saw the operator move his mouthpiece before hearing his voice. "I said: 'You're late'."
"Blame this guy over here." Hudson said, pointing a finger at Luis as he jogged up the steps.
"No surprise there. Get your asses inside the plane so you can finally get out of my faces. I got a cute girl I need to meet in a while!" The operator said over the radio.
"You mean that local prostitute with the broken arm and the one who gave Jason a case of the claps?" Luis responded as he followed quickly behind Hudson. "You sick bastard."
"Shut the fuck up and get in the plane, loadmaster." The operator retorted simply as he lifted the steps, closing it before quickly getting out of the way.
Luis quickly passed James Coltares, the main gunner for the 25mm, before going all the way to the back with Hudson and Kevin Martinez, who were the 40 mm and 105 mm gunners respectively.
"Okay, let's get this thing moving." James said over the radio to the two pilots up in the front.
"Negative. We need to check the systems and weapons first." Johnathan responded back. "Speaking of which, how are they?"
The T.V operator, Kayla Hunter, looked over at the screen, switching from FLIR to normal vision, then using the small joysticks to zoom in and out on the ground. She then switched from the 25 mm, to the 40 mm, and lastly, to the 105 mm.
"T.V and thermal-imaging is up!" She yelled over to Tony Latherson, the Electronics Warfare Officer. Tony nodded in response and he waited for the others.
Gary Johnson, the AC-130's navigator, turned and looked at his screen, checking the readings and the radar. The AC-130U is equipped with Raytheon AN/APQ-180 multi-mode attack radar (MMARs), which uses several enhanced air-to-ground modes such as fixed target track, ground moving target indication and track, projectile impact point position, beacon track, and a weather detection system that would point out weather conditions in another part of the screen.
"Radar and main electronics are up!"
Tony nodded once more as he turned to his own screen and checked the engines and fuel. The AC-130U has four HP Allison T-56-A-15 turboprop engines, with about 4,910 horsepower, and it's top speed it 300 miles per hour. It also has the ability to fly at a maximum height of 30,000 feet, and can fly 1,300 nautical miles.
He then spoke over the radio. "Alright, T.V, along with thermal imaging, is online, including radar and main electronics."
"Good copy. What about the engines and fuel?" Franklin asked.
"We're perfect on fuel, and the engines are perfect. Got enough fuel to go halfway around the planet."
"Alright. What about the weapons?"
Before Tony could respond, the three aerial gunners in the back responded.
"25mm is locked and loaded." James reported.
"40mm's ready to go." Hudson said.
"105mm is good." Kevin replied.
"All three guns are loaded. We're good to go." Luis said.
"Alright. Let's get this show on the road." Franklin said as he started maneuvering the AC-130 down the runway, while Johnathan started double checking the main radar and backup electronic systems.
As Johnathan finished checking the systems, the AC-130 had already adjusted itself onto the runway, ready for takeoff.
"Control, this is Apollo 2-2, in position on Runway Two. Requesting permission for takeoff." Franklin asked over the radio. leaning slightly to look over at the control tower before being blinded slightly by a ray of sunlight.
"Control to Apollo 2-2, you are clear for takeoff. Skies are clear from here onto Morocco, 2-2."
"Copy that. Apollo 2-2 taking off now." Franklin responded before adjusting the sticks and rolling the AC-130 down the runway. After a couple of seconds, Franklin lifted the AC-130 off the runway and taking to the skies.
"Apollo 2-2, takeoff complete. No issues, no slips. Just another simple, smooth takeoff."
"Copy that, 2-2. You'll be passing over the U.S.S Ponce on your way to South Africa. Otherwise, you'll be alone for this trip. Aim high, 2-2. Out."
"All right, gentlemen. Sit back and enjoy the ride. We'll be in South Africa in less than seven hours." Franklin said over the radio to the crew as they settled in for the long flight. But before he put up the comms, he spoke up once more. "And we should also be passing above the Bermuda Triangle in less than half an hour!" He said with sarcastic enthusiasm.
"Yeah, fuck you too, Frank..." Luis muttered annoyingly over the radio, much to the crew's amusement as they chuckled along.
"Hey, Frank. The stereo system you implemented is still here, right?" Johnathan asked. Franklin nodded.
"Yeah, it is. Why? Want me to put a song up?" Franklin asked.
Johnathan nodded. Franklin then reached under and pulled out his MP3 player. After turning it on, he looked over at Johnathan. "Okay. Just pick your song and give it back."
Johnathan took the MP3 from Franklin's hands before scrolling down the screen for a moment. He then found the song he wanted. Pressing the play button, he handed it back to him.
Franklin looked over a Johnathan with a deadpanned expression. Johnathan just smirked as he turned to look at the front of the plane, relaxing slightly as the song started to play while they flew over the Florida Keys.
As the sound of Johnny Cash played all through the plane, Luis looked at the stereo systems for a moment before turning to Kevin, who was looking around the M102 105mm cannon for any issues or rusts.
Luis then decided to start a conversation. "Hey, do you know why control mentioned the Ponce? I thought the Coast Guard was in control of the search-and-rescue operation?"
"They are. It's just that the Ponce is doing some testing near the middle of the Triangle." Kevin said, not looking away from the M102. "I don't know if they're really helping out in the SaR operation whatsoever, though. They might've just sent a couple of divers or something along those lines."
"Nah, they sent a Super Stallion chopper near the site, with a couple of divers to help." Hudson said, standing up after inspecting the Bofors 40mm. He then looked over at Kevin. "You have any idea what they're testing?"
Kevin just shrugged. "Not really, but there's been some rumors here and there that they've been testing some sort of laser weapon or something like that. Y'know, some crazy DARPA stuff..."
"Lasers? Don't they have one on Air Force One?" Luis asked.
"Dunno. I'm not a freaking DARPA agent. Does it look like I came out of Area 51 to you?" Kevin asked, sighing in annoyance.
"It doesn't matter, guys." Johnathan said over the radio, listening into the conversation. "They're gonna be moving back near Libya in a couple of days. Besides, it's none of our business."
"I hear it's just a prototype. Or maybe just a weather-changing device. Either way, they wouldn't test it if friendly birds were nearby." Franklin commented. He then turned to Johnathan. "Plus, don't ruin a damn conversation like that. We're going to be flying for a long ass time."
Johnathan just shrugged. "Just don't want Luis talking anymore about myths and conspiracies and shit. It's kinda getting old."
"He's just new around here, lay off him until we land. Besides, don't you find it at least a bit interesting?" Franklin asked.
"Eh. Kinda. I've heard it all before. None of it is true though. Just a bunch of bullshit." Johnathan said. The cockpit then fell into silence as they quit talking and kept focusing on the flying, with Johnathan just relaxing a bit and listening in to the music.
After the song ended, Gary Johnson looked at the screen to check on the weather conditions? After noticing that the skies were still clear, he turned his swivel chair towards Kayla. "Hey Kayla, do you see anything down there?" He asked.
"Affirmative." Kayla responded, looking at the T.V screen. "Looks like the Coast Guard is clearing up. A couple RHIBs in the water with what looks like a couple bent pieces of metal."
"Then I guess we're over the crash site then?"
Kayla nodded. "Yep. I see two divers on the side of one of the boats. Shit, looks like they're hauling a body bag onto the ship too..."
"Then they found it. I hope. Hear that, Luis? Now you can calm your shit." Gary said over the radio to Luis, who grunted quietly in response.
"Hope they find the rest of the bodies soon. Being buried at sea isn't the best way to go if you ask me. Let alone dying there..." Kayla said, looking away from the screen and grabbing her water can.
"Let's just get out of their airspace and make sure we get to Durban safe and sound." Tony said. Kayla and Gary nodded as they went back to their screens, with Kayla still looking at the rescue operation below. She quietly sighed as they saw that another pair of divers were bringing up another body bag onto one of the RHIB's.
Franklin then reached down once more and pulled out his MP3 to play another song to end the silence that now loomed all over the AC-130. He then handed it to Johnathan.
"Here. Play another song. I can't really stand the silence." He said. Johnathan nodded as he took his MP3 and started scrolling down the playlist for a song that would change the mood. After a moment, he found it.
"This one? You sure? I'm low on battery..." Franklin said. Johnathan just nodded.
"Alright then." Franklin obliged, putting the MP3 back in its original spot before pressing the 'Play' button.
As the strumming of a guitar began, Johnathan smiled as he looked in front of him. Without turning his head, he spoke up. "Y'know, my dad was in Vietnam. Served as one of the first AC-130 pilots. Part of the 16th SOS."
"Oh really? That's why you're here in the first place? To follow in his footsteps?" Franklin asked.
"Well, one of the reasons."
"What happened to him?"
Johnathan's smile faded slightly before he let out a throaty chuckle. "Honestly, I don't truly know. My grandpa told me that his AC-130 was shot down while truck hunting near the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Some Viet-Cong shot it down with a MANPADS or something like that."
"I'm sorry." Franklin said.
Johnathan just shrugged. "Heh. You know what the funny part about it was?" He asked.
"What?"
"They never found the wreck site. Not even a single piece of metal." He said.
Franklin looked over a Johnathan, who shrugged one of his shoulders once more. "Don't know how the hell they can't find the wreckage of a huge, metal flying beast.. But I guess it is how it is."
Franklin nodded slowly as he looked away, but not before hearing Johnathan mutter. "I hope we don't go out the same way..."
It was Franklin's turn to smile and chuckle. "Don't worry man. We won't. Besides, this isn't Vietnam 1960's. This is 2010."
Johnathan smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Shit just got to me for a second, along with the nostalgia and stuff."
"Don't worry about it." Franklin said, turning back to the front. Once he did, he noticed that there was now a huge dark-grey cloud wall, which seemed to stretch for miles on each side, and extended far above them, all the way to the very surface of the ocean waves. To him, it resembled something of that of a hurricane, or something along those lines.
Johnathan also noticed this, both of the pilots clearly surprised as the sudden appearence of a huge cloud wall in front of them. Johnathan then spoke over the radio.
"What the fuck?..." Franklin said quietly as he leaned in closer.
"Uh, Tony?" Johnathan asked.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Why didn't you tell us about the huge-ass cloud wall in front of us? I thought the skies were clear!"
When Johnathan said this, Kayla and Gary looked over at Tony, who had a look of confusion on his face. "What?..." He said to himself before turning the chair over to his screen, which showed that the skies were still clear as they should be. "Uh, Johnny? I hate to break it to you, but the screen says the sky is still clear."
"The huge cloud wall in front of us says otherwise. Come over here to the cockpit and have a look for yourself." Johnathan ordered. Tony then took of the headset and got up from his seat, motioning Gary to follow him. They then walked out of the Battle Management Area and towards the cockpit, meeting the two pilots.
"This has got to be some sort of- Oh shit..." Gary said in surprise as they both looked upon the huge cloud wall that was now nearing closer to them. The fact that they were still flying towards it made it even worse.
"Jesus Christ... look at that fucking wall. Like a hurricane or something..." Tony said. "But it's not even Hurricane Season. Not even close..."
"So, you believe us now, Tony?" Franklin asked, getting a nod in response.
"There must be something wrong with the freaking system. I told those maintenance fucks to double check it!" Tony said angrily, balling up one of his hands into a fist in anger.
"Well, it's too late now. You can chew them up later." Johnathan said. "Should we abort the mission and fly back to Hurlburt?"
Franklin sighed. "Damn it... yeah. Yeah, we should before we get caught up in that thing. We can do it when this thing dies down or something.."
They then heard fast moving footsteps behind them. When they turned around, they saw Luis coming into the cockpit. "What the fuck's going on?" He asked. Before anybody could answer, he too noticed the cloud wall. "Oh... oh my God.. where the fuck did this thing come from?!"
"Calm the fuck down, Luis." Gary ordered. "It doesn't fucking matter. We're flying back to base. We ain't getting caught up in that shit. Now get back with the gunners and tell them we're aborting the mission."
Luis grunted before nodding, looking Gary right in the eyes. "Alright... alright, fine." He then turned to walk back out of the cockpit, but he then quickly turned and looked at Johnathan. "I told you. I fucking told you." He said before walking out.
The others just kept on looking where he was standing, before Johnathan snorted annoyingly. "Whatever. I'll deal with him once we get back. Let's just turn this plane around and go."
Before Tony and Gary could leave, Franklin spoke up. "Oh and tell the Coast Guard to abort their mission also! We can't have them lost by the storm either. Contact them and tell them to head back to coast."
"What about the Ponce?" Gary asked.
"I don't know. We haven't seen them this whole time during the flight, but I'm sure that they've noticed the storm by now. Just go and hurry before we waste any more time."
Tony and Gary nodded as they quickly went out of the cockpit and back to the Battle Management Area. Once they rushed in, Kayla turned to them. "So I heard what was going on. We aborting the mission."
"Affirmative." Tony said, fixating the radio frequency and other electronic equipment. "I'm going to contact the Coast Guard nearby and tell them to get the fuck outta there. They won't get caught up in the storm."
"Alright. What about the Ponce?" She asked.
"I don't know. We haven't seen them at all during this trip. Let's just hope for the best, and hope they're prepared for the worst..." Tony muttered the last part as he spoke into the radio.
"Be advised all ships in the area, this is the United States Air Force pilot, coming out of Hurlburt Air Force Base. Does anybody read?" Tony said over the radio. As he waited, the area suddenly felt uneven as Franklin and Johnathan slowly and smoothly did a 180-degree turn in order to fly back to Hurlburt AFB.
As Tony kept trying to contact the Coast Guard and any ships nearby, Gary was trying to look for the problem. Once he detached the plate that held the electronics and wires inside, he noticed that the gears were fine, along with the wires.
"Did you find the problem, Gary?" Kayla asked, looking over Gary's shoulder.
Gary sighed as he put the plate back into place. "Nope. Seems like nothing's wrong with it. The wires are fine, the gears act as if they were brand-new.. hell, there's nothing wrong with anything with this thing."
"Except for the fact that it can't seem to identify a huge cloud wall that resembles a hurricane..." Kayla said bluntly.
"I don't fucking understand..." He muttered. Gary then stood up and looked at the radar screen. "Whatever. We're about to head back anyways. I'm just gonna focus on the radar in case anything happens."
"Alright. I'll stay on the T.V feed in case I see some ships below. Speaking of which..." Kayla said. She then turned to Tony. "How's contact going?"
Tony just sighed heavily as he placed the radio onto the ground. "I'm not getting jack shit. It's like somebody put a jammer the size of Alabama out here or something."
As they kept arguing, Franklin and Johnathan were leveling the plane out, turning away from the cloud wall. Once they did, their eyes widened when they saw that there was another cloud wall in front of them once more.
"What the fuck?! The hell is going on?.." Johnathan said, both shocked and annoyed by the situation.
"Aw, fuck. Is this shit going in a damn circle?!" Franklin said with a slight tone of panic in his voice, looking at the GPS and built-in compasses.
Johnathan decided to confirm his suspicions. He then stood up slightly and leaned in, looking out to the sides as much as he was allowed to. When he squinted his eyes, he was that there was a faint dark-grey color in the distance. He then followed the trail to the main wall that was in front of them.
Sighing, he spoke up to Franklin. "It seems like it. It's a full-blown circle. And we're right smack in the fucking middle. From the looks of it."
Franklin looked at Johnathan with a look of disbelief before throwing his hands up. "Fuck.. just.. fuck! How the hell do we get out of this one?!"
"We can try flying above it..." Suggested Tony over the radio.
"Scratch that one out immediately, Tony." Gary said. "We're already at 30,000 feet. We can't go any higher than that. And that wall is way above us to even try."
"How about we try flying under it?" Hudson suggested. "I don't see any lightning in it. For all we know, it could just be clouds. That's it."
"He has a point." Kayla said. "If we don't go through it, it won't matter. We're right in the middle of it. Either we go to the clouds, or the clouds'll come to use either way. We don't really have much of a choice."
Franklin looked over at the clouds, then back at Johnathan before sighing loudly. "Alright, fine. But first, we need to be sure that there's no other way to get out. I don't want to go through these clouds if we can find a safer way."
"Sorry to break it to you, Frank. But I'm checking the cameras and T.V stuff here..." Kayla spoke up once more. "..and I can easily see the cloud wall on the sides and the back. We really are in the middle of the circle."
"Fuck..." Franklin muttered.
"And the wall is closing in fast..." She warned. "Like... really fast. Like the mist from that one Stephen King movie..."
"That was a good movie, actually." Gary commented.
"Every Stephen King movie is a good movi-" Tony started, but was cut off by Johnathan.
"This isn't the time to be talking about fucking movies. Just hold on tight. Looks like we don't have another choice here..." Johnathan then looked over at Franklin. "Alright, Frank. Let's just go through the Goddamn clouds and hope for the best..."
Franklin just nodded silently as he kept flying the AC-130 at a steady 278 miles per hour towards the cloud wall. As he did, he cloud've sworn that the clouds were moving just, if not, faster than the AC-130 itself.
"Jesus Christ... Kayla wasn't kidding. Fucking hell...." Franklin thought as he tried to keep calm while they got closer and closer to the clouds.
Johnathan saw that Franklin was trying to keep calm, but the beads of sweat that rolled down his face out of pure nervousness. He couldn't really blame him. He then wondered. "Is this how we're gonna go out? Because of a damn cloud wall? Heh. Not much of an improvement, eh, dad?" He thought with a snort and a small smile.
Franklin didn't pay attention to this as he still tried to keep himself calm as the AC-130 finally penetrated through the dark grey clouds. It felt as if they were going through a dim lighted tunnel, since the sunlight was immediately deprived almost as soon as they went in.
Taking a deep breath through his nose, he spoke through the radio. "Be advised... we've entered the cloud wall." He said with a slightly shaky voice, but succeeded in not stuttering.
"Understood. I can't see jack through these clouds." Kayla said. "Not even with the FLIR imaging..."
"Copy. Any other issues we need to know about?" Franklin asked.
"Aside from T.V camera issues, everything's fine." Tony replied. "Engines are good, fuel is still perfect. Nothing bad."
"This isn't good man..." Luis said quietly over the radio. "This isn't good at all."
"Shut the fuck up, Luis." Kevin hissed. "Just shut the fuck up."
"Alright... Let's just keep calm and get through this shit." Franklin said, ignoring the argument that was going on with the gunner and the loadmaster. With that, he then turned to face the outside. The cockpit was damn near pitch black, aside from all the small lights that emitted a mixture of colors from the control panels and other electronic equipment.
"Good God..." Franklin muttered. "It's as if we're flying through a void in space. You can't even see the layers of the clouds. It's like... they're not even clouds.." He muttered, gripping the controls even tighter than before as his palms were now sweaty.
Johnathan decided to enlighten the mood by turning on a song. With that thought in mind, he reached down and grabbed Franklin's MP3. He then tried turning it on, only for it to show that it was at 2% battery-life.
With a sigh, he put it back down and looked back at Franklin, who was looking back at him. Johnathan then smiled and put his hand on Franklin's shoulder in order to calm him. "Hey man. Just focus on the flying, alright. We're gonna be fine." He then patted his shoulder. "Trust me."
Franklin looked at Johnathan for a moment or so longer before exhaling through his nose, followed by a nod. "Alright. Okay.." He then looked back in front of him, easing the grip on the control ever so slightly. "I trust you..."
Johnathan smiled as he looked back at the front, hearing Franklin mutter the same words one last time. "I trust you..."
After a couple of minutes of flying through the clouds in pure silence, Hudson spoke up over the radio. "Have we breached the clouds yet? Like, at all?" He asked.
"Negative." Johnathan responded back. "I'm starting to think these aren't even clouds at all..."
"Really? Then what do you think they are?..." Hudson asked.
Johnathan took a moment to respond before he finally did. "I don't know... it's like... we really are in some sort of void... or a wormhole..."
"That's some heavy thinking that only someone on acid thinks of, dude..." Hudson responded back with a slight chuckle.
"This isn't supposed to happen..." Johnathan muttered.
Hudson caught wind of this as his face took one of a look of confusion. "Wait... what?-"
Before Johnathan realized his error, they heard Gary speak up over the radio. "Uh... be advised everyone. Radar is down. I say again, radar is down."
Franklin almost instantly responded. "What? The hell do you mean 'Radar is down'?!" He asked, a slight tone of panic in his voice.
"The radar screen is nothing but a static mess now! That's what the hell I mean!" Gary retorted. Before he could go on, Kayla spoke up.
"We got another problem here, guys. FLIR isn't working! Aw shit, now this screen's just a bunch of static!" She said.
"Holy crap... the GPS and compasses are spinning like wild! GPS isn't active at all. It's fucking fried to oblivion!" Tony shouted as he looked at the other screens. "We also got the weather-detection systems down, the guidance systems, the weapons systems, everything is down over here!" He shouted in panic.
The cockpit's lights were then shrouded by a single bright red light as warning sirens went off, blasting their ear drums with the sound as it echoed all throughout the AC-130. Franklin and Johnathan then started to fixate the compasses and other electric equipment, only for them to either burn out, or shut off completely.
"See? See!? I knew this was a fuck-... ursed-... op!" Luis tried to speak over the radio, only for the radio communications to start bugging out, cutting out words with loud pieces of static noise.
"Radi-... ugging-... ut!"
"All-...... ystems-..."
"Fuc-... ish-... hit!!"
"Engin-... ailing-..."
Franklin and Johnathan were too preoccupied to respond at all, until the gibberish and mesh of noises and words were suddenly replaced by static. The sirens and beepings kept wailing louder and faster as Johnathan looked at the panel.
"Fuck! One of the propellers is starting to slow down!!" He said in panic. "Goddamn it! Just damn it all!!"
"No! We can still fly!" Franklin said as he tried his best to gain the least bit of control over the AC-130, in which its engines were now shutting down. "C'mon.... c'mon!!!" He shouted in anger as he moved the controls, while Johnathan tried to return back the systems.
Their attempts were in vain as the sirens and beeps suddenly shut off, along with all of the other lights in the cockpit. The entire interior of the AC-130 was now suddenly blanketed by an eerie silence. Not even the sound of rushing wind could even be heard outside. Johnathan could hear Franklin's heart beating rapidly in and out of his chest, and vice-versa.
They looked in front of the plane in horror, clearly terrified and anxious to what would happen next. They couldn't see each other's faces, since it was really now, pitch black.
After a couple of moments of breathing heavily and staring into the blackness in front of them, the silence was replaced by a sudden churning sound, as if the metal of the AC-130 itself was being bent and pulled, making a painfully-audible screeching noise of metal. The two pilots looked around in panic, fearing that the plane itself was falling apart, or being twisted and pulled by an unknown force.
Before they could even figure out what was going on, the sound stopped almost as soon as it began. With a terrified look still upon their faces, the two pilots then looked in front of them once more, only to be blinded by a bright, white light.
"Agh! Jesus! Fuck!" Franklin shouted, immediately putting his arms up to shield his eyes and prevent him from going blind.
"What the fuck?!" Johnathan shouted, doing the same. As they covered and closed their eyes, the bright light then disappeared. After a couple of moments, they slowly brought down their arms, blinking several times to regain full control of their eyesight.
"Fucking hell..." Johnathan groaned. "The shit was tha-" He then cut himself off as he looked at what was in front of them.
"Like a thousand fucking flashbangs went off all at onc-" Franklin started, also stopping mid-sentence as he looked at what Johnathan was looking at.
On the outside of the AC-130, it was still black, but they also noticed several white streaks alongside them. They then noticed that they were flying towards a pure-black, rotating hole that was right smack in the middle.
"Is... is that what I think it is?..." Franklin muttered, his tone a mixture of astonishment and fear as his pupils dilated.
"No way..." Johnathan said, almost breathlessly. "No... freaking way..." He then slowly looked to the side, noticing that the streaks of light were actually stars and galaxies, much to his astonishment.
"Oh man..." Johnathan heard Franklin mutter, amazed by the view they were looking upon. "This is... Wow..."
"How the hell are we in space?..." He asked to nobody in particular.
"Beats me, man... But I never thought I would ever travel to the final frontier. It's..." Johnathan then took in a slightly ragged breath before continuing. "It's indescribable..."
Franklin just nodded absent-mindedly as he looked upon the stars and galaxies, most of which were being bent by the black hole due to be the light and such.
He then remembered what Control had said to them before they left Hurlburt.
"Aim high, 2-2..."
"Aim high..." Franklin muttered quietly to himself before he smiled slightly.
Johnathan heard him mutter something before he turned to face him. "What'd you say?..."
Before Franklin could respond, another bright, white light beamed at them from seemingly out of nowhere, making them yell as they covered their eyes once more, rendering them unable to see what happens next.
"Fuck this!..." Franklin yelled before he felt an immense amount of pressure on his body as the sound of screeching, bent metal returned. "Fuck this..."
The noise got louder and louder and the light got even brighter before Franklin passed out due to the amount of pressure, but not before murmuring. "Fuck..."
The light and noise then dissipated as he fell into unconsciousness.
After screaming at the top of his lungs, Johnathan then slowly collected himself as the noise and the light disappeared once more. Breathing heaving, he slowly put his arms down squinting his eyes as he was met by light once more, but nowhere near as bright as the other flashes. Regardless, he hissed as he rubbed his eyes, regaining his vision once more.
To his immediate surprise, he was greeted by a normal blue sky, along with the regular old sun. He breathed out a sigh of relief, almost nearing the brink of hysterics before he fully regained himself and smiled widely.
"It... It worked." He thought with a look of shock in his face before grinning gleefully once more But before he could celebrate, his mind came upon a sudden realization.
"Wait..." He quietly muttered to himself before turning to his side, noticing the unconscious pilot slumped to the side.
"Shit!" He shouted. He then moved over to wake him up.
Franklin was still in a state of unconsciousness until he suddenly felt an odd sensation over him. He groaned slightly as his hearing came to him.
He then heard somebody speak, but it only came out as a verbal blur to his ears. His eyes then slowly started to open and his eyesight came back, all while he felt something shaking him.
"Brank..." He heard. Confused, he spoke back.
"Guh... Wha?..." Franklin said, his voice slurred and lazy.
"Franklin! Frank, you okay?" A male voice asked.
Suddenly, all of his senses came back as he jumped to attention. "Ah! What? Who? Huh?!"
Franklin then heard Johnathan sigh. "Oh.. Oh, thank God. You okay, man?"
Franklin nodded twice in response as he looked in front of him. His eyes widened in shock as he looked upon the blue sky and the sun. Confused, he turned to Johnathan. "What... What the shit? Weren't we just in fucking space?! About to enter a black hole or some crazy shit like that?!"
"We were..." Johnathan replied calmly. "For all I know, it looks like we were teleported..."
"Shit.. I'm not even going to- wait, what about the others?" Franklin asked with sudden clarity.
Johnathan's eyes then widened . "Aw crap!" He then swiftly stood up from his chair as he descended down the steps out of the cockpit. As he disappeared from Franklin's view, he shouted back at him. "Check the control panels! I'll check on the crew!"
Franklin then turned around, looking down at the panel. The first thing he noticed were that most of the built-in compasses were burnt out, and broken beyond repair. The small screen that displayed the GPS showed nothing but black, along with the sounds of crackling electricity.
Feeling the AC-130 move, he instinctively moved his hands to grip the controls. Franklin then came to the realization that they were still airborne.
"What the... weren't the engines and a propeller just failing a moment ago?..." He mentally questioned himself. He then took a double take on the panel as he regained full control of the AC-130.
........
Johnathan quickly approached James, who was leaning against the wall, gripping the ammo box for the 25mm as he tried to regain his balance, while wiping his eyes with his other arm.
"Ugh... Jesus... What the fuck just happened?..." He asked to nobody in particular.
Johnathan then helped James regain full control of his balance. After a moment, James was now standing normally. "James? You good, man?" He asked.
James nodded. "Yeah.. I-I'm good. What happened?..."
"I don't know if you saw, but from the cockpit, we were in fucking space. Now, we're back here on Earth." Johnathan responded.
"Wha-? How the hell is that even possible? Did those clouds do that?..." He asked, looking at the co-pilot as if he were taking acid tablets.
"I don't think they were clouds. All that matters is that we're back. We just need to find out where we are exactly." Johnathan then turned to look over his shoulder, then back at James. "I'm gonna go check on the others. You go to the back and check on Luis and Hudson, okay?"
James nodded once more as they went towards their locations. Johnathan quickly stepped into the Battle Management Area and breathed out a sigh of relief as he saw that Kayla, Tony, and Gary were already standing up, all three of them clutching their hands as they held their balance by grabbing onto whatever they could.
"Fuck..." Kayla said, hissing at the pain emitting from her skull. "I feel like I just got knocked out by a sledgehammer..."
"Same here..." Tony said as he took a seat.
"You guys all good?" Asked Johnathan as he walked in.
"Yeah." The three replied in unison as they all sat down on their own chairs. Johnathan then looked over at Tony.
"Hey Tony, can you check the systems and engines? I want to know what problems we have now." He asked.
Tony nodded slowly. "Y-yeah. I'll get on it. Fuck..." He then opened one eye, looking at the systems and engines.
"Alright. Hydraulics, oil, and engines are all good. Engines are yellowish-green, but still stable. Stability itself is 89%. Whatever the fuck we just went through gave our AC-130 a bit of roughhousing. Weapons systems and the weapon fire controls itself are online, including the Multi-Attack Radar. T.V is online, along with thermal imaging." Tony then turned to Kayla. "Right, Kayla?"
Kayla just finished switching from regular vision to thermal before turning to Tony. "Yeah. The T.V and FLIR work just fine. And the MMARs is stable enough to use."
"And our fuel is at 79%. Whatever just happened sucked up a decent amount of fuel with it. Last I checked, we had 94%. Also, from the looks of it, radar is completely offline."
"Yep." Gary said, giving the radar panel a slight kick out of frustration. "It's fried."
"Damn it. What about GPS?" Johnathan asked.
"Assuming we're on Earth, we should have..." Tony then stopped himself mid-sentence as he looked at the screen with a confused expression. Looking closer, he sighed. "Well shit. Nevermind. Looks like we don't have GPS. Must've been fucked up along with the radar."
"Wait, what about the compasses and stuff?" Gary asked.
"The ones up front are fried beyond repair. No way to use them." Johnathan said.
"Great. Now how're we gonna know where in the fuck we are?..." Johnathan asked with a sigh.
"Uh... Johnny?" Franklin asked over the radio. "You might want to come up here on the cockpit. And bring along Gary too. He might know where we are, 'cause I sure as shit don't..."
"Got it." Johnathan replied. He then motioned over to Gary to follow him back. He got up as they went back towards the cockpit.
Kayla then got on the radio and called for the gunners. "James? Luis? Guys? You all okay back there?" She asked as she switched the T.V back to normal screening, which only showed a green pasture with hills below.
"Yeah. We're good." Hudson replied. "Hey Kevin, help Luis and James pick up the shells from the ground."
"On it." Luis said. "I still can't believe we did what we fucking did. I mean, space?..." He said with a tone of slight wonder and awe in his voice. "Fucking A', man..."
"I don't blame you, dude." Kevin replied as he picked up a 40 mm shell, placing it back up on the ammunition containers. "That shit was crazy. Let's just hope we're over where we're supposed to be."
"Are the guns and ammo good for using?..." Kayla asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
"No reason. Just asking." Kayla said before taking a second to think about what she just said before changing her words. "Well, just in case we're over some hostile country of some shit like that."
"Ah. I understand." Hudson said as he bent over to pick up a 105 mm shell with Kevin to help along.
Back at the cockpit, Franklin's eyes had grown to an almost impossible size at what he was seeing. He rubbed his eyes several times, squinted, leaned in, even slapped himself once to make sure his state of mind was where it always was and not in some sort of other realm of fiction.
As he kept on looking with shock and disbelief, Johnathan and Gary climbed up the steps and into the cockpit. "Alright, what is it that you want us to see? You think we know where we are?"
Franklin got out of his state of thinking and turned to Johnathan and Gary. "Look in front and below us and tell me what in the fuck you both see." He said.
Johnathan and Gary did as they were told and leaned forward to get a better view. As their eyesight adjusted to the sunlight and balanced it out, their eyes also grew in shock at what they were seeing.
"Woah.. What... What the fuck is?..." Johnathan stuttered. "I've never seen this shit on Earth before..."
"Are we in medieval-fucking Europe or some shit like that?..." Gary asked. "Because I am confused as shit right now..."
The three were looking at a cliffside of a mountain that contained a waterfall on the side, along with a ridge beyond it. On the side of the mountain, was a huge city. They noticed that the city had the colors of mainly gold, white, and slightly dark lavender. It also had a huge castle with soaring towers that seemed to balance at an unexplainable way. In front of the castle was what seemed to be a small city, along with an entrance and what seemed to be a railroad. The AC-130 was positioned slightly over the outer edge of the city.
But there were two things that stood out the most. One, was that the entire city was covered in a pinkish dome of some sort of energy.
"What do you think that dome's made of?..." Gary asked out loud.
"Beats me, man..." Johnathan said, still in slight surprise. "Did we go back in time or something?"
"I don't think so. I don't think they had this kind of stuff back then." Franklin replied. "But if they did and we did go back in time, then I'm avoiding the dome."
"Yeah.." Gary said. He then took into account that there were also several hundreds of black dots on the outside of the dome, which was the second thing that stood out to them the most.
"What the fuck are those black dots?..." Gary asked. "Warning signals? Paint?..."
"I don't know... But I think Franklin should get us closer to gain more altitude and so we can get Kayla to give us a better view on what's going on down there." Johnathan said as he positioned and controlled the AC-130 into gaining even more altitude, planning to fly alongside the outskirts of the city walls and a fair distance from the dome. "You hear that, Kayla?"
"Johnathan, I have no idea what in God's name you and the others are talking about..." Kayla said honestly. "But if you're sure about flying us near wherever you and the others are talking about, then I got you."
"Uh... Johnny buddy, you sure about that?..." Franklin asked. "What if the try to shoot us down?..."
"They don't look like they do, but I'll make sure to keep a safe distance from the main city and castle. Plus, we got packed with flares before we left. I want to see if we are where I think we are, otherwise this won't be good..."
"Which would be?..." Gary asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.
"Earth." Johnathan replied simply as Franklin hesitantly got closer and closer to the city and the castle. The three looked on at the dome and the massive amount of black dots surrounding it. Gary then saw that several of the black dots were actually moving, seemingly slamming into the pinkish dome.
"Hey, hey Johnny," Gary said, grabbing his attention. "you see the black dots? See how many of them are moving up and down onto the dome?.."
"Fuck, I see it too..." Franklin said. "Maybe they're doing some sort of group teamwork to warn us physically about coming near the castle?..." He theorized with a nervous tone in his voice.
"Damn... you may be right. I thought that they told me-" Johnathan started, but stopped himself as he, along with the other two, watched in shock once more as they witnesses the pinkish dome collapse and break after a couple of the black dots hit the dome. Pieces of the dome fell right below the city and castle as the dots swiftly moved in, as if they had broken through some sort of defense.
"Holy shit... Are... Are they invading?..." Gary asked.
"Sure as hell looks like it." Franklin said, watching in awe as the massive swarm of black dots moved into the quite vulnerable city and castle. As he and Gary watched, he felt something nudge his shoulder.
"Hey! Now's our chance to get closer and see what exactly is going on there!" Johnathan said. Franklin looked at him with slight confusion before nodding and turning back in front of him. He then exhaled and increased the speed of the AC-130 as they approached even closer.
In the ground below...
The six Element Bearers were now running through the town, trying to get the Elements of Harmony from the Canterlot Tower, while avoiding changelings on the way, who have broken the magic barrier and were diving towards them, hoping to tackle and beat them to a pulp. One of the changelings dived in front of Twilight and hissed at her. A look of disgust came upon her face that quickly switched to one of anger as she stomped both of her hooves into its face and ran over it, the others doing the same and crushing the changeling into the cobblestone.
"C'mon, ya'll! We're almost there!" Applejack said as the six mares turned the corner.
They then stopped when a large group of changelings surrounded them, itching for a fight against the six mares.
"Well, I guess we're gonna have to do this the hard way!" Rainbow Dash said, hitting her hooves together. Before she could make another move, she was confronted by another Rainbow Dash. With this, Rainbow Dash was suddenly struck with confusion as they both looked at each other with the same moves and looks of confusion, until the doppleganger bucked Rainbow with its hind legs, sending her launching until she landed on her back in front of the other five.
The rest of the girls looked at Rainbow, then at the rest of the changelings, many of which turned into Rainbow at first, but started copying the rest several times over. Rainbow then gathered herself with a slight groan as they all got into an offensive position and started fighting back with all the strength they could muster.
Back at the AC-130...
Franklin had now positioned the AC-130U on the outskirts of the city, performing a left-hand pylon turn as they finally got into position where Kayla could use the cameras and other systems to look into the ground below.
"Alright. We're in position now." Franklin said, clearly nervous about the entire situation and their location. "Luis, make sure the flares are loaded and ready for use; just in case."
"Copy, Frank. The flares are good." Luis responded. "I really hope you know what the fuck you're doing, Johnathan. I really fucking do..."
"Trust me. I do." Johnathan replied back calmly as he looked at the systems and electronics, not noticing the slightly confused look Franklin was giving him.
"Alright. T.V is up, along with FLIR. Just wait a second so these clouds'll move out of the way..." Kayla said, fixating the camera and the feed as she waited for the clouds to clear up. After a moment, they finally did.
"Okay, the clouds're gone. I'm going to zoom in now. Stand by..." Kayla informed as she used the sticks on the panel to zoom in. As she did, she saw a black blur move at an extremely fast pace before it disappeared from the corner of her screen, making her lean back in confusion before returning to what she was doing.
The T.V then picked up several move fast moving black blurs, enticing her curiosity. "I'm seeing several fast-moving black streaks." She reported to Johnathan and the others, who were listening in closely. She then noticed several buildings, some of which had holes in their roofs. Others had small fires, or were simply torn down. "Several buildings and houses.. some of the aren't scratched. Others are just piles of rubble."
"Copy. Anything else?..." Johnathan asked.
"Uh... Hold on a second." Kayla said, moving the camera as she switched from regular vision, to FLIR, making her able to spot any and all heat signatures. "Alright. Switched to FLIR. Hold on a second... I see four... No, six heat signatures on a cobblestone road."
"Can you identify what they are?..." Johnathan asked.
"Uh... I don't know if you're going to believe me Johnny, but they have the outline of what looks to be a group of small horses..." Kayla said as she watched the six horses running down the cobblestone road. "Or, uh... ponies? Come over here if you don't believe me..."
Johnathan was in a state of confusion before he walked down the steps and back into the Battle Management Area, along with the three gunners and Luis, who were not believing anything on what Kayla was saying when she mentioned 'six small horses'.
"Okay then, let me take a look..." Johnathan said as he looked into the screen. His eyes widened along with the others in the area as he realized what Kayla had said was right. There were six heat signatures that resembles small, very small horses. When Kayla zoomed in even closer, she and the others noticed that a couple of the horses had what seemed to be wings and horns.
"Unicorns and fucking Pegasus'?" Luis said out loud in surprise before chuckling. "Fucking hell. We've done fucked up now, man! We've done fucked it up!"
"Shut it, Luis." Tony hissed. Luis did as he was told as they all kept looking upon the screen. Then, one of the black streaks came from out of the corner of the screen, landing in front of the six horses. They watched as the black blur was actually a small black horse itself. They noticed one of the six horses looking down at the other horse, before it smashed its hooves into its face, seemingly knocking it out as it, along with the other five, ran over it.
"Holy shit, dude. Did those horses just kill that thing?..." Gary said in awe.
"Fuck, maybe." Tony said. They kept on watching until the six were stopped by a huge group of the same black ponies that they dealt with just a couple seconds ago.
"Damn, that's got to be at least two dozen of them..." James said, watching with suspense as he realized something. "Wait... you think the black dots were the horses? And that the pink dome was some sort of defense against them?..."
"It seems that way. I mean, they did break through and started wrecking havoc, no?..." Hudson suggested.
"So it is an invasion.." Kevin said. He then turned to Johnathan. "What should we do about it?"
Johnathan just shrugged. "I'm thinking, but I don't think we should intervene. Let's see how it goes and then I'll decide."
Luis started chuckling as he spoke up. "Y'know, I always knew there were aliens out there, but I would never in my wildest fucking dreams thought that they would be fucking alien horses..."
The others looked at Luis before turning back to the screen. Kayla then switched from FLIR back to original, noticing the colors the horses had. She and the others noticed that one horse with rainbow hair was kicked in the chest by one that looked exactly like it after it copied its movements exactly the same as the real one.
"Woah, wait! Did it just fucking shapeshift into that rainbow horse?!" Tony shouted.
"The black horse fuckers can shapeshift?..." Johnathan said. "Oh crap... That's gotta hurt."
"Guys... Look..." Kayla said. They all then focused their attention back onto the screen To their immediate surprise, they watched as the black horses transformed themselves into exact copies of the colored horses, surrounding them as more of them joined the group, making the numbers go from what seemed to be a couple dozen, to well over one hundred.
"Jesus Christ..." Gary said quietly and in awe.
"This should be good..." Kayla said as she leaned in to watch the events unfold.
They all watched in surprise and awe as the six original colored horses attacked their clones. As soon as they did, they couldn't tell which was which, but as soon as one of them was knocked out, theyturned back into the weird black horses. They also saw that a pink horse had a small, pink cannon, where she aimed it at the oncoming horses and shot a volley of confetti at them, which they all found comical despite the situation. After a while, the original six horses were the only ones standing, having knocked and beaten the living hell out of the black horses, but not without being left exhausted and moderately injured. The entire group was very impressed at how they handled at least 100 of those things.
"Holy shit, those things can fight..." Kayla commented.
"Don't see how the pink one pulled a fucking cannon out of nowhere." Kevin said.
"I don't even know what the fuck is real anymore..." Luis said. "For all I know, this could be one helluva fucking dream."
"Trust me, Luis. This ain't a dream.." Johnathan said with a faraway look on his face. Luis just shook his head as he leaned back on his seat and kept watching the screen.
"So, what should we do? Should we help them out?" Tony asked. "From whatever you're saying, it looks like there's one helluva battle going on down there."
Kayla then moved the camera away from the six horses to get a better view from other sections of the town. She and the others saw several horses wearing what seemed to be gold armor sets and spears all around the area, but the black horses were frankly defeating them easily.
"Well, you're not wrong. I see some horses down there wearing gold armor trying to fight the black horses, but the poor fuckers don't even stand a chance..." Kayla said as she moved the camera back towards the six horses.
"Yeah. If that's their standard for military combat, then no wonder they're getting invaded." Johnathan said.
"So, can we do anything at all to help? Because we're wasting fuel here if we're just going to keep watching them get their asses handed to them." James said.
"Well, Johnny's in charge here. Shouldn't he make the call?" Gary asked.
"We can't just engage, Gary. I mean, we haven't even been noticed yet! Let alone engaged." Hudson said.
"Well, we can't just sit here and watch them get fucked up! Can't we do anything at all?!" He asked, not wanting to just leave them be to their own fate.
"Rules of Engagement still apply to us no matter where we are, Gary." Franklin reminded sternly. "Hudson's right. We haven't been engaged at all, so we can't really do anything. And we all know this won't just be our little secret. I'm not saying I don't want to help them out, I'm saying we can't."
Before Gary could retort, Kayla bumped into the dispute. "Uh... Guys? I think that rule's about to change...."
On The Ground....
The mane six were panting, and frantically looking around, as the dust settled and the bodies of knocked out changelings were sprawled all over the ground. Fluttershy was caring to one of Pinkie's hooves, while the others regrouped around them.
"Wow.. that was too easy, actually. We whooped their flanks!" Said Rainbow with a breathless chuckle, as the others smiled and nodded in reply. But then Applejack spoke up.
"Um.. ah think ya spoke a bit too soon, Rainbow. Look!" She said as she pointed a hoof at the sky. They all looked and saw a large swarm of Changelings rising from the rooftops of houses and taking to the skies. The girls immediately took their stances, daring the Changelings to come at them.
But their looks of determination slowly changed into one of confusion as they watched the Changelings keep on gaining altitude.
"What the... Where the heck are they going?" Asked Rainbow, confused to why the group of Changelings ignored them.
"I have no ide- Wait! Look! Up there!" Twilight exclaimed, pointing a hoof at the skies. The girls all raised an eyebrow before they looked up towards the direction Twilight was pointing at.
"Ah don't see anything, Twi." Applejack said, bringing one of her forelegs to shield her eyes from the sun. She then saw something gleaming in the distance.
"Wait... What is that? Did ya'll just see that little glimmer?" Applejack asked.
"Uh... No." Rainbow said. She then did the same as Applejack as her eyes squinted. "Oh wait! Yeah! I see something over there!"
"I see it too!" Pinkie exclaimed, jumping once into the air.
"Is that what the Changelings are going to?" Rarity asked. "It's just a little gleaming light."
"No, Rarity. It looks... Metallic..." Twilight said.
"Should I go up there and check it out?" Rainbow asked. "I can take Flutters with me."
Fluttershy whimpered silently as she slowly stepped behind Twilight, making Rainbow roll her eyes.
"No. We'd be wasting more time. As long as they're ignoring us, we can go and get the Elements!" Twilight exclaimed. "C'mon!" She said. The six mares then quickly ran down the road, while glancing over at the glimmering, 'metallic' object up in the sky.
Back In The AC-130...
"Aw shit, are those fuckers coming right at us?" Kevin asked.
"Seems like it. What do you want us to do, Franklin? Should we fly away from here?" Kayla suggested.
"I don't think we should just leave them." Franklin said. "Plus, they'll probably keep following us for God knows how long."
"Well then? You got any ideas?" Tony asked.
"Guys, they're getting closer. Make a fucking decision now!" Kayla shouted.
"How about we pop some flares? Maybe that'll make them back off..." Hudson said.
"Why not just fire off warning shots with the 25 mm?" Luis asked.
"And risk hitting whatever other mythical civilians live down there? I don't think so." Johnathan said. "Besides, we'll use the weapons only if they come dangerously close."
The others thought for a moment before they all decided that releasing a volley of flares would be a good idea. "Okay then. Flares it is. Franklin, hurry it up and launch them!" Kayla said.
Franklin then looked back down at the control panel, letting go of the stick and pressing down on a button, activating a stream of flares as he leveled the plane out of a the pylon turn.
On The Ground...
The mane six were just approaching a slightly burnt-out yard as they were about to turn the corner and take a shortcut. As they did, it gave them a full view of the skies above.
Rainbow then took the time to take a quick glance back up into the sky. When she did, she saw that the Changelings were now even closer to the object than before. Before she could voice her thoughts of concern, she was surprised when she saw a sudden stream of bright, slightly smoky lights emit from the bottom and the sides of the object.
"Hey, wait a second! Look back up at the thing!" Rainbow exclaimed, getting the others attention. "It's shooting out bright light thingies from the sides!"
The others immediately stopped in their tracks as they watched upon the object in awe. The object then emitted another small burst of bright lights, streaming from the sides.
"Woah..." The six mares said in awe. They also noticed that the Changelings stopped dead in mid-flight, also looking upon the odd balls of light with confusion.
"That's a pretty cool light show!" Pinkie exclaimed with enthusiasm. They then all saw the bright lights slowly shrink in size before they dissipated into a stream of smoke. "Aww..."
"Wow..." Twilight said. She then shook her head and looked at the other five. "Okay, that was cool and all, but from the looks of it, I think that object can handle itself, and we're wasting time! Let's keep going!" She said. The others quickly obliged as they started running once more, turning the corner.
Inside the AC-130...
"Flares away, flares away." Franklin said as the plane shook very slightly as it dispersed some of its flares from both of its sides and below. They heard a slight streaming sound as Franklin saw the bright lights the flares emitted.
"Copy. Flares deployed." Kayla confirmed as she looked at the black horses through the camera. "The horses stopped in their tracks. Looks like they're backing off a bit."
"Looks like it distracted them at least." Tony said. "That's about it..."
Kayla then double checked the T.V. The horses were slightly distracted as they looked upon the flares with looks of confusion and surprise. "C'mon... Just fucking go back down, you freaky little shits...." Kayla thought as she kept looking intently at the screen. After a moment, most of them shook their heads as they started towards the AC-130, faster than before.
"Fuck!" Kayla said. "They're still coming!"
"James!" Johnathan called, turning to the 25 mm gunner. "Go to your station and make sure that 25 mm is loaded! We'll engage if they get too close."
"But John-" James started.
"Just go!" Johnathan ordered. James looked at him as if he were a madman for a split-second before nodding and heading back to the 25 mm, swiftly running out of the room.
"Kayla, switch to the 25 mm and don't engage until I give the order!" He said. Kayla looked at him with a raised eyebrow as she did what she was told. They all then waited as they looked towards the screen with anticipation and nervousness.
"Johnathan, are you sure?" Franklin said with a nervous tone.
"Sure I'm sure." Johnathan replied, not taking his eyes of the screen. "This is what I was told to do."
"Okay..." Franklin said as he returned the AC-130 to a pylon turn.
"25 mm's ready and in position!" James said over the radio.
"Wait for it...." Johnathan said as Kayla waited patiently. The black horses were now even closer than ever.
"Wait for it..."
Johnathan and Kayla then saw a perfect position where most of the black horses were aligned, which meant hitting more with one burst, and conserving ammo.
"Now!" Johnathan ordered.
James did as he was told, the AC-130 rattling slightly as the 25 mm gatling gun roared and rained down on the black horses below.
Back On The Ground...
As the six mares turned the corner, they were then confronted by an enormous mob of Changelings, almost three times the amount of the ones they fought before.
"Oh come on!" Rainbow shouted with an annoyed tone.
The six mares then slowly walked back as the Changelings approached then agonizingly slowly, taunting them as if they were their prey waiting to be trapped and killed. They then try to turn around and run the other direction to find a new way to the tower, but were confronted by another, slightly smaller, mob of Changelings.
"Aw horseapples, Twi..." Applejack said with an angry tone. "How the hay are we gonna get out of this one?! There's too many ta' take on at once!"
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" Twilight said as her mind worked rapidly on an escape plan, looking up into the sky as she did so. As she did, he trance of thought was interrupted by a sudden loud noise that emitted from above. More specifically, the object in the sky that now emitted a huge line of what looked to be flames almost out of nowhere.
The mane six yelped as they immediately covered their ears with their forehooves at the sudden loud noise. The noise also made the Changelings do the same, except they hissed in annoyance and out of fright by the suddenness. The noise was what they could only describe as a muffled 'Rrrt' along with several pops and a muffled 'Brrt'.
When the noise stopped abruptly, they all then instantly looked up at the skies to where the object was located. They saw a sudden stream of flames emit from the side before it almost instantly disappeared. To their horror, they saw what looked to be faint splashes of green liquid before almost all of the Changelings in the sky were now falling towards the ground below.
"Oh... Oh my..." Fluttershy said in silent horror before she fainted.
"A-are they?... What?..." Pinkie said quietly as her mane started to lose its bright pink color and started to slowly deflate.
"Holy bucking crap..." Rainbow said with shock.
Twilight then turned to see the Changeling's expressions. It was about the same as theirs, except they all had much more of a look of sorrow and anger than the six mares.
The girls yelped and whined again as the object let out another 'Brrt', emitting the flames once more as the rest of the Changelings were now falling to the ground below.
Before the mares could do anything, one of the Changelings tackled Rarity. They then looked at the Changeling, who was crying and had a look of utter rage upon its face that also emitted from its eyes. Along with the other Changelings.
Back In The AC-130
Kayla and the others watched with surprise as the 25 mm rounds tore through the black horses like butter, dropping more than half of them like flies. The gatling gun went off again, finishing off the rest that remained as they looked upon their fallen ones get shredded by the unknown weapon.
"Goof effects. They're all dead and gone." Kayla said. Luis, Kevin, and Hudson had already gone back to their weapons stations in case they were needed also, while Kayla and the others were quiet as she zoomed the camera back in on the six horses, who had a look of sorrow and shock on their faces.
"Johnathan..." Kayla said nervously. "I hope you made the right choice..."
Johnathan just nodded as they looked at the screen. They then saw that a huge group of the same type of black horses had surrounded the six colored horses. As they looked, she also saw the same looks of sorrow and shock on their faces. Along with what she could've sworn was rage. Utter rage.
"Because I don't think you did..."
They then all watched with surprised looks as one of the horses tackled one of the colored ones, noticing its look on its face, which was one that meant it wanted vengeance and that it was going to get it one way or another.
Johnathan then quickly spoke into the radio. "Kevin! Get ready to launch a 105 mm round into the first group of those fuckers! Along with three 40 mm on the second group!"
Tony and Gary looked at Johnathan with shock. "What?! What the fuck are you talking about, man?! Haven't we've done enough?! Let's get the fuck out of he-"
"Shut up!" Johnathan barked. He then swiftly turned to Kayla. "You have your orders!"
Kayla hesitantly did what she was told as she positioned the crosshairs over the first group. Kevin then spoke over the radio.
"105 mm is in position and ready!"
"Fire!" Johnathan shouted.
Back On the Ground...
As the five mares tired to desperately pry the Changeling off Rarity to prevent it from beating her to death, Twilight saw that the other Changelings were slowly approaching the mares, a look of vengeance burning fiercely in their eyes.
"No wait! Please!" Twilight pleaded. "I-"
She was then cut off by a muffled, yet loud boom-like sound from above. Hesitantly, they all looked back up to the skies and at the object, noticing an elongated, white streak soaring down towards them. They watched with nervousness and fear as it got closer and closer at an extreme speed. Twilight then took a glance at the group of Changelings to the right. More specifically, she caught the look of one Changeling with a look of awe shown on its face, before it turned into one of fear as the white streak impacted right smack in the middle of the group.
In what seemed less than a literal split-second, the majority of the group of Changelings was engulfed in a huge burst of flames as the white streak connected, exploding right on contact and seemingly turning several Changelings into nothing but a green mist of blood, while the explosion maimed and disembodied several other Changelings, blood mixing with the ground and several limbs now flying.
The six mares and those Changelings that were lucky not to be instantly killed by the explosion were launched back by the sheer force and pressure of the explosion. Twilight was sent into a wall of a house, knocking the wind out of her as she gasped hoarsely, her vision now blurred. As she looked, she saw the carnage the explosion left. Not a single Changeling in the group was left standing, while the five other mares were struggling to stand and sit, trying to grasp their minds into what had just happened.
As she faded into unconsciousness, she heard three more muffled booms from the sky, along with three more explosions nearby.
Back in the AC-130...
"Shot out!" Hudson shouted over the radio as they watched through the T.V the 105 mm shell impact with the group, making all of them either nothing but a mush of dead flesh, torn limbs, and blood, or launching them back to a significant distance from the sheer force and pressure. They then, with looks of horror on their faces,
"40 mm shots are out!" Kevin shouted. They kept on watching as the 40 mm rounds hit the second group, causing similar results, except resulting in more confirmed kills from the looks of it.
Instead of Kayla responding with a confident 'Good shots', or even a 'Niiice.', she kept quiet. Not saying a single word. Johnathan looked over at Kayla, who had a deadpanned expression on her face.
They then saw another group of black horses taking to the skies. This group was around three times bigger than the first one they engaged. They watched as the group increased their speed.
Before Johnathan could give the orders to fire off another shot, Kayla spoke up. "No."
Johnathan looked at her with a slightly confused look. "What?"
"No. We're not engaging them anymore. We've already caused enough shit today here." Kayla said sternly, yet with a calm tone and a deadpanned look on her face.
"And let these fuckers get inva-"
"We shouldn't have gotten involved in the first fucking place, damn it!" Kayla shouted, getting right at Johnathan's face. "We're fucking leaving. Now!" She then turned to Gary. "Did you fix the fucking weather shit?!"
Gary nodded quickly. "Y-yeah. I f-found the same cloud pattern just five mikes behind us. If I'm right, it should take us back. Otherwise, we're fucked."
Kayla nodded once before turning to Johnathan, who had a look of realization in his face. She then sighed as she sat back down on her seat, rubbing her forehead with her hand. "I can't help but feel like they don't deserve it. I mean, yeah they're bad guys, but I don't feel like they've done anything bad enough to have them killed for!"
The entire area remained quiet, aside from the roaring engines and the sound of Kayla breathing heavily. She then reached over to her water canteen and opened the cap. "Let's just get the fuck out of this damn place."
Johnathan stood there for a while before he silently walked out of the area and climbed back up onto the cockpit. Taking his seat, he turned to Franklin.
"Frank, take us five mi-"
"I know." Franklin interrupted him as he turned the AC-130 around and went full speed. "I heard."
Johnathan noticed the look of disappointment and anger on Franklin's face before he sighed through his nostrils and collapsed slightly onto his seat. His mind going through the events of what just happened.
As he did, he heard Kayla speak over the radio."Franklin, deploy flares. They're still behind us."
"Roger that. Deploying flares now." Franklin responded. They then heard a slight streaming sound as he dumped flares once more, keeping his eyes trained on the same cloud wall that was in front of them.
As they started flying into the cloud wall once more, Luis spoke up before they would lose radio contact. "So.. What? Are we just gonna leave? Leave and pretend that this never fucking happened?"
It took a while before one of the crew members responded. "I... I don't know, Luis. This situation is one we sure as hell weren't expecting." Kayla said.
"I just feel like we shouldn't have gotten involved. I don't feel like they needed to die." Luis responded. "I mean, y-yeah, we're trained and all that shit, but we could have just avoided it altogether if we just flew away or gave some warning shots."
"I don't blame you, buddy." Tony said.
"So... What's going to happen now?..."
"I don't know, man." Franklin said. "But I doubt it's anything good..."
With that, the radio was then filled with static as they entered the darkness once more.
After half an hour of going through the same way they came in, they finally penetrated the clouds, coming back into the view of the blue sky and the sun. As everyone recovered from the experience of pressure and the light, Gary took a seat and looked at the screen.
"Guh... I feel so damn fucked up to my damn core..." He then noticed on the screen something that made his eyes widen in surprise. "Uh... Franklin?..."
"*Cough* Uh.. Yeah?" He asked, barley recovering from his grogginess. "What is it?..."
"Look at your GPS." Gary said. Franklin did so, noticing that the screen was now intact and was showing the location of Durban along with it.
"Oh shit! The GPS works! So, that means..."
"Yep." Gary said with a smile. "We're back home. Well we're ten miles from Durban."
"Thank God..." Franklin said with a sigh of relief as he corrected the position of the AC-130 towards Durban.
"So, what're we gonna do when we land?" Asked Hudson as Franklin started to position the AC-130 towards the runway.
"We can't keep our little 'secret' hidden forever. They will check the reels. They always do." Luis said.
"We'll deal with it when the time comes. For now, I say we go to our barracks and talk more about this shit. I'm too sick to speak right now..." Franklin said as he lowered the AC-130.
"Fuck man, I don't want to go to Leavenworth for this shit..." Luis said quietly.
"Why the fuck would we go to Leavenworth for?" Hudson asked
"Dude, they put a Marine in there for fucking trophy guns. Imagine what the fuck they would do to us for killing aliens!" Kevin said.
"There's a law for that?" Hudson asked again.
"Yeah. Last year? Convention 13? Rules of first contact with extraterrestrial life and shit?"
"Look guys, just shut it. We'll talk about it when we land." Franklin ordered.
He then switched radio frequencies to speak with the control tower. "Durban Air Force Control Tower, this is Apollo 2-2 coming from Hurlburt Air Field in Florida. Requesting permission to land, over?"
After a moment, the control tower responded "Uh, copy that, Apollo 22. Didn't see you coming in. We got a report of a dot appearing on our radar. Was it you, over?"
"Uh, negative, Control. You might be experiencing some phantom dots or some electric glitch, over."
"Copy, sorry. You are clear to land on Runway 3."
"Copy that. Landing now."
Franklin then lowered the AC-130 onto the runway, decreasing in speed as the wheels touched the paved ground. The crew then began to shut down the systems and electronics as Franklin positioned the plane onto the runway before shutting it down.
"Alright..." Franklin said with a sigh as he stood up from his chair. He then turned to Johnathan. "Meet me in the barracks. Now."
Johnathan nodded as he walked behind Franklin. They both saw that the side door was now open, and everyone else was already outside the plane.
Franklin noticed that Kayla was talking to one of the fuelers, seemingly begging for something before she doubled over and vomited on his feet. He then rushed towards her aid until he saw Luis and Gary follow along with the vomiting.
Franklin patted Kayla on the shoulder as she continued to vomit. After a moment or so, she coughed and spoke up.
"Fuck man... This sucks." She said as she coughed even more. Franklin just smiled slightly before looking forward. He then noticed two men walking away from three black Chevy Suburban's, wearing black and white clothing and pairs of aviator sunglasses. Between them was Johnathan.
"Gentlemen!" One of them yelled, catching the attention of the crew members. One of the men showed a folded up badge for the Central Intelligence Agency, while the other showed a badge for DARPA. The CIA agent then walked towards Franklin and Kayla, with a deadpanned expression. "Please follow us. We have a lot to discuss."
