Princess Luna returned to her war room. The figure was there, holding a pad. The Princess examined the contents and smiled. This had to work, if not, then…

***

Princess Celestia woke to knock at her door. She opened the door to find no one. A pad lay on the floor. Picking it up she examined what it had to offer. This strategy would allow her to wipe the New Lunar Republic off the face of the planet. If this last ditch effort failed then there truly was no hope; for either of them…

***

Now do you see why this was a bad idea? They’re going to murder each other! Most likely taking half their militaries with them.

Again, how could I have foreseen that this would happen? I don’t see into the future like some people!

You just could have listened to my suggestion in the first place and canceled your experiment.

BOTH OF YOU KINDLY SHUT UP OR I SWEAR I WILL GET U TO ERASE BOTH OF YOU!

Thank you Gigi. Now it may not be a total disaster, in fact, I’ve set this in motion to put him on a collision course with his destiny…

***

John headed out of Sweet Apple Acres, waving good bye to Granny Smith and Big Mac. Well, he thought, might as well go see what everyone is doing today. Scratch didn’t want me showing up to early.

He made his way to Twilight’s. Opening up the door, “Hey Twilight, you up for doing anything today? I’m free until 12:00.”

“I’d love to John, but I have to catch up on my botany study,” she said while closely examining a plant with a magnifying glass.

“Ok, I’ll see ya later then.”

He headed out to Sugarcube Corner; Pinkie Pie was always doing something fun.

***

The Daylight Flare broke its docking connections and rose from dry dock. The rest of the fleet was doing the same. In the haste to get ready for the coming battle most of the ships hadn’t been fully repaired. But if everything went according to plan then they wouldn’t need to be. The fleet cleared the dock and headed north, preparing to stab a line right into the heart of The New Lunar Republic.

***
The Eclipse was at the front of the precession of ships. They formed an arrow head meant to cut the Solar Empire in half. If all went well, they would never even meet the Solar Empire’s last battered fleet. Then again…

***

“Hey, Pinkie! You doing anything today?” John asked.

“I’d love to but I’m extremely busy today. I have to bake, five cakes, seven pies, two dozen cupcakes, and sixteen muffins. All by the end of today!” She says, rushing back and forth between ovens and mixing bowls in frenzy.

“Alright, I’ll get out of your hair,” John laughed, walking out and back into the sunlight. Ponies still stared but by now most had just about gotten used to him.

“Might as well go see what Rainbow Dash is doing.”

***

Rainbow Dash was dreaming. She was flying fast as usual, but this time was different. There was something following her, it was gaining. She’d known where this was going. Every few nights her dreams would be haunted by the strange fighters that now haunted the skies outside her mind. This time it wasn’t a fighter. It was a creature of some kind. It had two legs and two arms and wings on its back. It was John. How’d he get wings? More importantly, how’d he get so good at using them?

He quickly caught up to her; looking over he smiled, “Race ya.”

“You’re on.”

With that they were off. Dipping and dodging random clouds; laughing along the way. Then the sky went dark. There was an object blocking out the sun. Rainbow looked up. It was a ship. It bore no markings of its origin or owner. It stared malevolently down on her. She looked to her right. John was gone.

It began to open its hanger bays. Fighters zipped out of the enormous beast. Rainbow screamed as she ran from the monsters. The fighters were slowly gaining. She looked behind her. The pilots stared back. Black eyes and malevolent, toothy, smiles dominated their faces. A blast impacted her. She screamed as she fell from the sky; her wings shedding feathers like she was a fallen angel.

Rainbow awoke in a cold sweat. A thumping sound echoed through her messy cloud home.

***

Prince Blueblood stood on the bridge of his ship, The Golden Arch. He’d normally been a frilly, pompous, prince, but like others, he’d changed. He bore the hardened expression of somepony who’d survived countless battles and lost hundreds under him.

The Solar fleet moved through the thick fog. Unusually thick. It was blocking all sensor capability to within a few feet. By linking their systems the ships managed to prevent catastrophic collisions. The fleet moved closer to the neutral city of Stalliongrad.

The cultural center of the world attempted to maintain its isolation, attempting to promote peace and love and the arts. It was the place many fled to escape the war. Little did the inhabitants know that their world would be upside down in the course of eighteen hours…

***

Princess Cadence sighed loudly. She was beginning, well had already been for a long time, regretting her decision to take a side in the war. Every day she woke up and as a daily ritual, cursed herself a thousand times over. Her decision had taken her away from her love in Canterlot. Shining Armor pleaded with her to stay out of the war. For the sake of their wedding he asked her to stay out, to stay with him. But the ideals with Princess Luna and the New Lunar Republic attracted her. But now after watching countless hundreds die under her command, she felt as guilty as the Princesses themselves.

“Steady as she goes,” she sighed. She ran a tight ship and kept everything in order. Not out of some princess pet peeve but out of the faint hope she could prevent further death because of her mistakes. But the next thirty seconds were unavoidable.

BLEEP, the klaxon blared. The collision alarm sounded; too fast for the ponies to react.

***

So now you show us your cruel side? I hope you know you’ve just murdered about two thousand souls on that ship.

Oh for the love of U, please shut up. You never stop complaining do you?

I’ve been around for a long time. A very long time. Old age will eventually get to you too. Unless you suffer a quantum fluctuation and die.

I swear if the two of you don’t resolve your differences I’m going to kill both you! Yes, what I may have done was cruel; she will go one believing she is responsible for the death of her brother but she will learn the truth soon enough…

***

Thirty seconds earlier.

Prince Blueblood sat in his chair. He was contemplating his past choices. Had he made a mistake joining the Solar Empire? Had his decision coerced his sister to join the New Lunar Republic? Did his pompous attitude drive others away from him? He knew the answer to that one. At the Grand Galloping Gala five years ago, he drove away a nice mare, Rarity was her name, with his stuck up and high and mighty attitude. He wondered what could have been.

The Klaxon blared. Collision alarm. At this range, the alarm made no difference.

He hit the intercom with his hoof, “All hands brace for impact!” his flowing accent echoed through the ship. The bow of the Aristarchus crashed through the bridge, killing all on Deck One. The impact crippled the ship, causing it to descend into the foggy mists below. Meanwhile the Fleets of the New Lunar Republic and the Solar Empire collided in an explosive burst of chaos…

***

Stormy Days was overall a happy pony. He’d migrated into Stalliongrad to escape the darkness of the war. He was a sculptor pony, who’d made his living in the cultural city. All the positive feelings in the world seemed to make their way to the metropolitan. Now he sat atop a skyscraper in his apartment overlooking the city. His view was blocked by the dense fog that occupied the city, but he didn’t mind. He was having a great day.

A roaring sound of a failing levitation spell and overheated engines filled his ears as The Golden Arch crashed into the skyscraper, annihilating the top of the building, sending debris crashing to the ground. Screams of ponies could be heard as cobblestone, brick, and metal impacted the street.

The fog began to clear, revealing a scene of death and destruction above. The fleets had, in some cases literally, collided with each other. Cruisers engaged their opponents at point blank range, firing full broadsides into each other. In one case, two hulks were still locked together, fighting so violently that many simply ignored the fact their enemies were only a few yards away. Fighters zipped and chased, shooting and sending entire squadrons spiraling to the ground.

Ponies screamed and ran all over the city, in an attempt to escape to the violence. The city had no weapons to defend against the two instigators. They were entirely helpless to the battle above. It was official; The City of Stalliongrad was under siege. The war had found its way to the capital of innocence…

***

Rainbow Dash opened her door. A group of small rocks sat on her door step. Another rock found its way up and thumped Rainbow on the head.

“What the hay?” she yelped, “Stop doing that before I come down there an-”

John waved up, “Hey Rainbow! Sorry for all the rocks but I was wondering if you wanted to hang out before I go to work!”

“Sure, but next time just ring the doorbell!”

“Um, how? I can’t exactly just snap my fingers and walk on clouds and fly like you.”

“Oh, I forgot about that, I’ll be right down.”

With a leap she flew down and landed next to John. For a few moments they just stood there and smiled at each other. Rainbow blushed, “So, watcha wanna do?”

“Honestly? I was hoping you had something in mind.”

“Oh I have an idea! Follow me.” She said and dashed off with John close behind…

Next Chapter: Chapter 7. War Machines Estimated time remaining: 44 Minutes