The sun was setting, and the newly promoted Captain-Commander gazed out at the shining silver armor of her Sorrow-class battlecruiser. Everything was finely polished - down to the steel corridors that would soon be covered with mud. Rows and rows of precision-hammered rivets flanked the curved metal plates. Small box-like gun emplacements jutted out at strategic angles all over. A glint of light passed over her white-pink hair as the gun slowly swiveled about.

Twilight Velvet stepped back from the window and onto her bed. The room was much larger than the crew quarters she’d been stuffed in as an Engineer. She’d always wanted to live the high life as a ship commander. Many of her mates that had served with her on board the Tyrant had had the same dream. There was a picture of them on the mantlepiece - a brown mare, a blue pegasus stallion, a white unicorn - her, a black Saddle Arabian, and a llama. They were brilliantly smiling next to her daughter, who looked as beautiful as ever in her navy-blue dress uniform. Next to that was a massive pile of unfolded and unsent letters she had written to her on her last long-distance deployment, and couldn’t send.

Fortunately the Sorrow was going somewhere where she could get them delivered. Personally.

A sparky voice came over the intercom.

“Captain-Commander, we are approaching the docking pylon at Ascendant Wings. Your presence on the bridge is requested.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it, Mesa, I’m on my way.”

She grabbed her captain’s jacket with her magic and gently tossed it over her shoulders, not bothering to reach her legs into the sleeves. She trotted over to the door. A flick of her horn, and the door swished open as her hat came floating down onto her head.

When she first came on board the shiny silver ship she almost fainted. Sorrows were the newest design to be phased into the Equestrian Aerial Navy - she’d been expecting an older, smokier Nimrod, or even a junky Pathos. But everything about the ship - from the furniture in the crew common area to the rapid-fire rotary cannons mounted on the main turrets - was brand spanking new.

She plastered a smile on her face and began trotting up the corridor, friendly greetings from the crew echoing all the way.

The battlecruiser roared straight into the cloud, engines blazing. Its heavy guns fired madly towards the fast frigates chasing it. Proximity explosions took out one, two, three of the frigates, but more kept pouring in. The carrier that lay behind the tiny ships chuckled merrily. Bursts of anti-aircraft fire swarmed the outmatched battlecruiser, destroying its engines, its generator, breaking its radar and its automated defense system. Helpless and drifting, the battlecruiser barely sustained a hit from the carrier’s light guns before a massive, steam-filled explosion took its parts to the thundering iron sea below.  

Twilight threw her hooves up in frustration as Colgate soundly destroyed her for the tenth time today.

"Twilight," sighed the blue mare. "You don't have to do that."

"I thought you said you were gonna go easy on me that time!"

"I did! Look! You managed to shave off three-quarters of my fleet this time. That's much better than when we first started. You couldn't even land a shot then."

"Still isn't a victory," said the purple filly.

sigh "Twily..."

"I just wanna win the game! Is that too much to ask?"

"You know what, Twily? I have a better idea."

The blue unicorn flipped a few switches on the side of the steel table. A few jets of steam shot out the valves, and gears ground crazily inside. The bright flash of a mana core was briefly visible through the machinery. The simulated sea on the table began to shake and quiver. AS Twilight watched, the landscape dissolved, leaving nothing but the still copper airship models lolling lazily on the its surface.

She pressed another button, and the molten iron clouds floating on the simulated battlefield rearranged themselves. A burst of simulated wind spun them up in a frenzy. Metal lightning smashed against metal oceans, and a tiny little iron lightning storm converged on the battle table.

"Why don't you and I fight the machine together? You can even pick the doctrine."

As if voice activated, a long metal hatch opened towards Twilight. Inside, several boxes were neatly and tightly packed together like sardines in a can. Each had a label written in Colgate's flawless writing, and was decorated with a small pink flower and a crude drawing of a BZ-7 steam rifle. Twilight looked over the  boxes for a minute, hoof in her mouth. There was one stuffed behind the others that looked relatively untouched. She levitated that one out. Colgate caught the box with her magic and set it down on the floor.

"Ooh, the Sorrows. I heard these were the guys that made you win."

"That was only because of that lucky gust of wind," said Twilight, opening the box.

The chandelier's light shone on several nickel airships, each tucked into its own little niche inside the red foam. Colgate levitated one of the bigger ones out. A fourth the length of her leg, the model was accurate down to the last detail - even the five-barreled rocket launchers on the Sorrow's gondola had tiny decorative designs etched into them.

"I'd say that was anything but lucky," said Colgate. "The others don’t like it. Hey, by any chance,  isn't this the ship your momma flies?"

"Commands." said the little filly. "She's Captain-Commander of the Freyja, a new Harmony-B class Patrol Battlecruiser, recently commissioned by the Aerial Defense Board. She graduated from here fifteen years before, and was renowned for having one of the best victory scores ever ach-"

"Okay, okay, that's enough, silly filly," chucked Colgate. "I saw that in the newspaper last week. Believe me, every mare in here wants be like C-C Twilight Velvet. Hell, I’d bet that half the stallions would undergo a reassignment spell just so they could fill her shoes.”

"Mom says that she’ll retire when her job is over,” said Twilight, completely unfazed. “And she says her job will be over when Equestria has no more enemies to fight.”

"That's true, little Twily. And your job is just beginning."

She gestured at the metallic storm, still buzzing with ferocity.

Twilight removed the airships from the box. As the metal models floated in the air around her, she made a quick check of what she had. She carefully looked over her fleet composition one last time, turning her head sporadically to look at the included manual. Colgate stood idly by, watching the little filly perform. She was going through her pre-flight checks: assessing the capability of every ship she had and how to best utilize them. It was something she learned from her mentor.

[Okay, let's see what we've got...

A Joy-class battleship. Standard ship of the line. It's got heavy weapons, and good armor, but moves slowly. Best used against other slow fliers or on harpooned vessels. This one has had its heavy rotary cannons replaced with large-bore artillery, which fire slower but are extremely devastating to anything they hit.

A Vigilance-class rocket cruiser. An interesting addition to any fleet, it’s got long-range rockets which, although inaccurate, are extremely powerful. Again, best to use against slow or harpooned ships. It can lock a target for better accuracy, but needs time to finish target acquisition. Once it does, though, it can unleash a devastating barrage of offensive firepower against anything in its way.

Two Sorrow-class patrol battlecruisers. While big for a battlecruiser, the Sorrow is designed to counter fast ships, shooting them with light rotary cannons and anti-frigate homing rockets. It also has harpoons, but moves rather slow. It needs to get within close range in order to be useful. It has a powerful countermeasures suite that lets it deflect incoming missiles, but not too many. If it’s overwhelmed, the Sorrow really can’t do much against larger vessels. It’s a newer ship, so the old table might not know what it can do yet.

Six Rage-class frigates. The exact opposite of a Joy. Fast, speedy, and deadly at close range, battleship cannons can't accurately hit it. It’s got harpoons and small weapons, making it an effective anti-frigate platform or a harpooner to stop larger ships.

A Contempt-class minelayer. It deploys stationary balloon mines that are triggered by nearby enemies. The wind can blow the mines around. The airship itself does move quite fast, and has a rack of light rotaries for defense. If it’s caught, however, Contempts can usually be killed rather easily by enemy cannons due to its light armor.

Twelve Fury-class frigates. These guys are like spotters for snipers. Their only purpose is to harpoon enemies, and to hold them for a long time while heavier ships close the distance. They have little armor and die quickly while under fire, but they rarely sit still long enough for battleship weapons to hit reliably. They do have small flak guns, which are good against fighter craft, but really nothing else.  

"Okay," said Colgate. "Once you're done thinking about your ships, try and figure out how to use them."

Twilight furrowed her brow, examining the Sorrow she levitated in front of her. Colgate pulled back on the switch that set the machine difficulty, and picked the doctrine for the enemy.

The Sorrows are going to be my main source of damage. In order to get close, my frigates are going to have to harpoon enemies and either drag them close or hold them still. The Sorrow's rockets do reach a decent range, but with the current conditions, hitting something is going to be nearly impossible.

The wind is blowing too hard to reliably use my Contempt or my Vigilance, but if I deploy mines, maybe the wind will blow them into the enemy. The rockets also are a liability in the weather, but if I hide the Vigil in the clouds, maybe I can perform a stealth attack.

Using the Joy is quite difficult in a storm condition, but it can appear out of nowhere. I have to use the clouds to my advantage.

She levitated the pieces to the table. The repulsing magnets mounted below the copper ocean took the ships out of her hand, floating them on invisible magnetic fields. Then, the magical part of the sim-table took over, and suddenly the ships started to move, their turrets and weapons creaking around, their propellers turning into tiny, see-through circles on the engine blisters. A green aura highlighted each vessel, signalling its readiness.

The enemy fleet materialized on the other half of the table, separated by the storm. Transparent blue with red auras, the enemy ships were the very definition of a ghost fleet - the exact name for the fast and speedy interceptor doctrine the machine commanded.

"Alright, what did I teach you about the interceptors?" asked Colgate.

"They're very agile," recited Twilight. "Most likely, the machine is gonna use the clouds to perform flanking attacks on my bigger ships if I let them fall behind. If I harpoon them, they're as good as dead. That means my Furies are going to be worth more as the battle progresses. Light weapons will be extremely effective against the interceptors, and rockets can easily destroy the larger support vessels."

"Wow, Twily, I'm impressed. You've certainly learned a lot since I started helping you out. Now, be a big girl and kick their ghostly copper asses! We can do this!"

"Initiative goes to "Table,"" said the creaky machine.

The enemy pushed four interceptors forwards, turning the others away.

""Twilight Sparkle, it is now your turn."

"Use what you know," said Colgate. "Don't let the enemy gain the upper hand."

Twilight pushed her Sorrows left, escorted by four Furies. She kept her Joy and Vigil sitting in the starting area, and moved her minelayer into the storm. Her six Rages quickly followed.

"Table, it is now your turn."

The four interceptors disappeared, obscured by the clouds. The rest of the ghost fleet began circling around the storm system.

""Twilight Sparkle, it is now your turn."

"Your Vigil could help your Sorrows with their rocket cruisers," suggested Colgate. "Although, I would save the battleship for later."

She continued to push her Sorrows towards the enemy fleet, activating their countermeasure systems. The enemy's rocket ships were already aligned for combat. Her minelayer deployed its first rack of balloon mines inside the clouds, letting the storm's wind gusts blow them around. She ordered her Rages to climb above the storm, with the rest of her Furies following. The Vigilance began to move towards the Sorrows, but the Joy stood still.

"Table, it is now your turn."

As predicted, the two enemy rocket carriers began firing at her Sorrows. While ineffective now, they could be invaluable later as interceptor missiles also triggered the countermeasures field, and a single Sorrow could only deflect so many projectiles at once. Twilight hoped that wouldn't be the case.

"Don't be afraid, Twily," said Colgate. "The interceptors aren't close enough to deal damage yet. Use your Furies and stop them."

""Twilight Sparkle, it is now your turn."

Twilight ordered her Sorrows to begin kiting the interceptors, the revolving rocket launchers beginning their devastating volley. Meanwhile, she moved her Joy towards the edge of the storm, away from the interceptors. The Vigilance began to acquire its target as the minelayer deployed a second rack of balloons.

"Watch the clouds. You always need to be prepared for a surprise attack. Get your Joy closer."

"Table, it is now your turn."

Everything went haywire.

Suddenly, the four interceptors hidden in the storm burst out, missiles flying. The Rages could only watch as the interceptors unleashed a deadly barrage on one of her Sorrows, negating the countermeasures field altogether. The Joy, being too far away, couldn't use its anti-aircraft guns, and the Vigil was still achieving target lock. The other Sorrow tried to retaliate, but only succeeded in further damaging its twin.

Twilight cursed as the other interceptors approached, sending out more missiles to confuse the countermeasures. The first Sorrow began to burn, tiny golden sparks emanating from the copper.

""Twilight Sparkle, it is now your turn."

"It's okay, it's okay. Come on, Twily. Distract their main damage-dealers."

Twilight's Furies closed in on the rocket cruisers, mini-guns flaring. The slow-moving Rages followed suit, burning them away with armor-melting explosive shells.

The damaged Sorrow let loose a devastating close-range rocket barrage, scattering the interceptors. Two of them flew towards the Joy. The nickel captain on board must’ve been laughing his head off as his massive array of anti-aircraft guns blazed over the copper sea, sending the frigates back into the bowels of the machine.

"Table, it is now your turn."

The interceptors unleashed another volley of missiles, blowing apart the Sorrow's right steamjet booster. Harpoon shots fell all around the deck of the battlecruiser, ghostly ponies with swords and rifles preparing to board.

Two interceptors engaged her Furies, sending one of them to the seas below.

""Twilight Sparkle, it is now your turn."

Twilight's other Sorrow circled around the damaged one, shells and rockets screaming through the sky. Four interceptors fell, but the Sorrow could take no more. With its countermeasures suite overloaded, steam boiler ruptured, and armor with the contingency of Swiss cheese, the airship began its slow plummet towards the table.

"It's alright, Twily, you can still win this. Your Joy can take them out easily with canister."

She pushed the Joy closer, silently ordering the crew to load the deadly incendiary scatter shots. The BOOM BOOM of the siege artillery resonated through the bleached copper. The table shook mightily with each shot. Swarms of tiny yellow tracers found their mark, setting engines, gondolas, and gas containers on fire. Two more interceptors nose-dived towards the sea, covered in silver flame, while the others began a hasty retreat towards the rocket cruisers.

"Table, it is now your turn."

The Nimrods belonging to the table engaged her Furies. With a few flak rounds, the frigates crashed into the metal waves below. Harpoon lines still stemmed from the remaining rocket cruiser, but with the Vigil locked on, its life looked pretty short.

Three more interceptors entered the clouds. A balloon mine, blown about by the wind, took one of them out in a colossal explosion.

"Okay, only four more interceptors to go," said Colgate. "You can do this."

""Twilight Sparkle, it is now your turn."

Twilight moved her Sorrow forwards, followed by the Joy. Rockets from the Vigilance screamed through the air, silencing the enemy's last cruiser. All that was left were the interceptors and the burning Nimrods.

Her Sorrow began locking the nearest Nimrod. It was already spooling up its rotary guns. Next turn, the barrage of shells would find the worn armor.

"Table, it is now your turn."

The Nimrods turned away and BOOM, the table was gone, followed by the floor, the room, the dormitory, and then gravity, as the purple filly began to fall.

“Twily!” screamed the blue-maned mare as the rubble came down. Suddenly, she was gone, and the only noise Twilight heard was the endless droning of propellers.

Buried in stone, the little filly strained her magic to the fullest to remove a single block of debris, sending in a shaft of light. There they were - ominous shapes covering the clouds, each rounded and ovoid like the shell cookies they served in the cafeteria. The cafeteria that was most likely bombed to oblivion.

Another noise came into the filly’s ears. This time, it was a sharp whistling. It filled the crawl space she sat in, echoing through the rubble in an endless screeching scream. Her hooves immediately found her ears.

“Colgate, I’m scared!”

Nopony replied. Nopony, except for the thumping explosions of bombs, impacting the packed earth.

“Colgate!”

BOOM.  BOOM. BOOM.

“Colgate!”

BOOM.  BOOM. BOOM.

Rhythmical like rain, if it could even called that. Rain didn’t drop from bloodthirsty ships, looking to kill whatever was below them. Rain didn’t separate fillies from their mentors. Rain didn’t-

Blue.

A ripped blue mane peeked over the tip of Twilight’s crawl space.

“Twily!”

“Colgate!”

Strong blue legs shifted the rock out of the way, revealing a battered blue mare and an equally dirty purple filly.

“Come on, Twily,” said the mare. “We’re getting out of here.”

She threw her dirty jacket onto the wide-eyed filly, ten sizes too big. The bundle went onto her back, best she could.

“Colgate, I’m scared.”

“I know, I know, okay? Just try to relax.”

Blue legs started to run. The uneven earth shook Twilight around, even tightly wrapped inside the too-big jacket. She closed her eyes, but it wasn’t enough to block out the steel rain that fell all around them, turning everything into ruin and dust.

BOOM.

A bite! Something bit me!

Twilight’s hooves reached for her neck as the pony below her went limp, crashing face-first into the rubble.

BOOM.  BOOM. BOOM.

Twilight’s ruffled head poked out from the jacket, only to be met with a pool of blood. The blue mare was on her side, twitching spasmodically on the cracked stone blocks.

“Colgate!”

Her legs climbed out of the jacket, still cutie markless, and ran over the broken earth to the collapsed mare.

Her hooves pushed against her big blue side, and the mare flipped onto her belly.

Twilight covered her mouth quickly to block the flood of acid that came running from her stomach.

“Colgate! Colgate, you’re... you’re scaring-”

“Shhh...”

The blue mare was still spread onto the ground, the right side of her chest basically gone. Blood poured from the open wound like a river from the mountains, flooding into the ruins relentlessly.

“Colgate! Colgate!”

“Shh.... It’s okay. You’ll be okay. Let me... let me fix...”

A flash of magic came from her horn, and Twilight felt the bite on her neck disappear. Her hoof ran over it, revealing a thin scar. A scar that ran from the base of her ear to the shoulder of her left foreleg.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. Everything will be fine.”

Twilight hugged the mare as best she could, tears forming under each eye. She could feel her breathing - shallower and shallower with each passing breath.

No. The dam broke, and Twilight’s tear came out.

“It’s okay Twily.... It’s.... o....ka-”

Nothing.

The blue mare went limp in Twilight’s hooves.

Tears soaked the fur, now colder than the ruined stones all around them.

“COLGATE!!!!”

...

Suddenly the steel rain stopped.

A great flash of light came from the sky. A fleet, this time grand and regal, painted in bright whites and blues, came from the setting night sky. At the prow of the lead vessel was a shining white pony, her horn as long as her wings were wide.

She flew off the ship, and suddenly the sun rose again, as the light shined over the bombed ruins and turned everything bright.

When the light cleared the moon had risen and all that was left in the sky was the frantically waving searchlights of a thousand Navy vessels, each with a red cross painted on their sides.

There. There, they said, their lights bouncing over the dormitory. There. We found one.

A regal step unto the ground. There, looming before the dirt and destruction, was the winged unicorn, bright and shining, with an energized, flowing rainbow mane that stretched all the way down to her golden shoes.

Like a mother with child, the alicorn embraced the crying filly. Her smooth white wings wrapped around her matted, bloodied fur. She let her cry into her shoulder, let herself be soaked with the tears of the fallen.

The filly peered back at the desiccated corpse of the blue mare, lying pale and broken in the rubble. The alicorn's regal eyes found it too. Her horn lit. A cascade of energy flowed into the body, filling it. She squeezed. Once. Twice. Three times, and the body began to dissolve, leaving behind a single tiny emerald, no larger than the filly's eye.

She lifted her out of the ruin, barely up to her shoulders, and walked towards her landed ship, the sirens of medical vessels cutting through the air above. The emerald found its way into the filly's grip, and she held it close, as if it were alive.