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There are few things in the land of Equestria more difficult to defend against than an assault from the sky.

A once peaceful land that thrived on the socialistic intent of friendly neighbors and caring family, Equestria was, overall, a place of serenity and prosperity.

But everything changed when the Griffonian Nation attacked.

For seemingly inexplicable reasons, hundreds upon thousands of battle ready pegasi and griffons attacked together, swarming Equestria and taking it in an iron chokehold.

And when those same unfortunate souls that suffered at the hands of their attackers turned to their leaders for assistance, neither Princess Celestia nor Princess Luna was anywhere to be found. With no immortal protectors to defend them, many died outright in the attacks.

But others fought back.

Others took up arms against the Griffonian assailants, against the allies that they had once known. Griffon against pony, unicorn against pegasus. That day, the air was filled with cannon smoke and screams.

That day, the streets ran red with blood and feathers.

On that day, Canterlot burned.

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“Fire!”

Captain Rarity swung her sabre in the direction of the half-plundered castle, arrows flickering up from the stone towers toward her ship.

Rarity was rather proud of her airship.

It was an opulent thing, finely crafted and carefully maintained. The varnished and reinforced wooden airship, large enough to easily house a dozen more ponies, was still sleek enough to slip through the air on its balloon with enough speed to make a quick getaway or deadly airstrike.

It was currently being used for the latter.

“Again!” Rarity bellowed, her makeshift crew scrambling to dodge the oncoming arrows and reload the bulky pair of cannons on the side of the ship. “Port to starboard, I want that stronghold, NOW!”

“Aye aye, captain!”

Rarity resisted the urge to duck as arrows whizzed overhead from the panicking earth ponies defending the castle in the Everfree Forest, maintaining her composure. Her crew did not consist of half as many ponies as she would have liked, but at least they were enough to properly fly the airship – and for now, they would have to do.

The only pegasus aboard happened to be a tan pegasus with a bright orange shock of short mane, a cracked diamond for a Cutie Mark. He had this covered by his guard’s barding, however; Brink Slipper had been one of the first recruits aboard the Crown Jewel, and was one of the most fiercely loyal. Perhaps this had something to do with his position as a guard before Canterlot went to ruin, but he was reliable enough.

Another pony beside Slipper straining to keep the heavy iron cannon tied to the ship’s deck wasn’t necessarily a pony.

Cloak happened to be the first, and only changeling that Rarity had ever employed. The skeletal and many holed pony possessed both a bent and sharp unicorn’s horn and insectile wings; however, Cloak was neither proficient in any magic aside from shapeshifting and couldn’t fly very quickly. As such, he spent much of his time on deck, performing as many duties as he possibly could with just as much zeal as Brink did.

Lastly, Rarity’s second in command was definitely the anomaly of the crew.

Just from looking at the small, brown eyed colt, Rarity never would have guessed that Pipsqueak could possibly be any danger at all.

And then he had promptly and brutally eviscerated three of her last crew.

She had to admit, the earth pony colt had surprised her when he tried to take her life as well; but unicorn magic tends to do wonders against an ordinary pair of scissors. After seeing his display (and finding herself a few members short) Rarity offered him a place aboard the ship. Partially because the abandoned colt from Trottingham would probably have continued to languish in the ruins of Canterlot where she found him, and also partially because he was shockingly effective.

All in all, they made for a decent plundering crew; swoop in on the unsuspecting, take whatever they could carry, and fly away as fast as possible. Griffonians, Equestrians – it didn’t matter. A mare had to eat, after all.

And for a while, this was how the crew operated – pillaging and scavenging without purpose.

Until Rarity discovered something from her ‘informant’ and began her mad search, nearly demolishing the countryside in search of the ‘artifacts’.

“Captain!” Brink held the cannon down as they fired another shot at the worn castle, blasting bits of rubble into the air. “They’re mounting a ballista! Combustibles, from the looks!”

Rarity snagged the creaky wooden wheel of the ship in both hooves, spinning it violently as the ship began swerving downward through the air at an angle.

“Hooks, now!” Rarity screamed over the wind as they lurched toward the crumbling castle’s tower, close enough to see the panicked expressions of the three earth pony archers scrambling away. A line of steel grappling hooks were thrown swiftly over the side moments later, firmly latching onto the castle tower’s crenel as the ropes went taut and slowly brought the  Crown Jewel to a halt.

The makeshift anchors held firm as the crew slid down the ropes, armed to the teeth and knocking directly into a pair of archers. Neither held up long, Brink swiftly bucking an archer in the face as he landed from the sky and snapping his neck. Simultaneously, Cloak leapt downward and jammed a large dagger directly into the skull of the second archer, dropping him like a sack of bricks.

The final remaining archer, a lime green pony who held his bow defensively in shaking hooves, held an arrow notched at the assailants, eyes flickering in panic back and forth as they slowly closed in on him.

Cloak grinned and lurched his head forward with a hiss, revealing his razor sharp teeth.

The archer promptly dropped his bow and dove over the side of the tower, falling through the air like a stone.

“Don’t just stand there, ya’ bloomin’ dolts!” Pipsqueak screamed at them as he slid down the rope. “After th’ bleedin’ bastards! Where there’s an offensive, there’s loot!”

“Forget that!” Rarity called gleefully as she joined them, sharp sabre levitating with a blue glow beside her as she landed atop the tower. “This is the one – this has to be the one. Leave everything else, but get those artifacts!”

Her crew swiftly obeyed, charging through the tower and down the decrepit stony stairs.

They would be hers, soon. These artifacts of immense power.

These ‘Elements of Harmony’.

And then – then they all would see just how the accursed Imperial army held up to the unstoppable might of the Crown Jewel. Then she would at last begin to break the chokehold on the Equestrian nation.

Then, she would finally obtain vengeance for her sister.

And all would fear the name Rarity.

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