Chapter Eighteen: Grey Squadron.

***

February 1st, 2030.

A large group of Pegasi flew alongside a transport helicopter towards the city of Leeds. The transport helicopter carried a half dozen soldiers, including Lockett and Dutch, as well as Hell Blazer and - most importantly - the unconscious form of David Elliot. All of the Pegasi wore flight shirts that were colour coded to show which flyer belonged to which squadron. Most of the ponies wore colourful blue, green or gold shirts. Six of them, however, wore distinctive grey shirts with circular assignment patches sewn into the material. Three of them seemed relatively at ease in the formation they flew in, as though they had been doing this sort of flying for a long time. Three more, however, seemed far less so.

Rainbow Dash fidgeted slightly as she glided, uncomfortable with the uniform shirt she was wearing or the little earpiece she had in her ear. She was, in all truth, used to flying completely unhindered by any kind of clothing: wearing a shirt and the earpiece put her off. Not to a degree that ruined her flying capability (it would take more than a cloth flight-shirt to do that!) but to a degree that made her a tiny bit less confident about flying - essentially reducing her to considerably more confident than most ponies were in the air. She felt more ill-at-ease about the ponies that surrounded her, none of whom looked at her with anything less than distrust.

Fluttershy seemed unaffected by the grey uniform shirt, looking at it with something resembling disinterest. Her brief modelling career had made her more used to clothes than some, so her flying capability - for what it was - seemed rather unaffected by the shirt 's presence. She was still struggling slightly to keep up with the far better flyers that surrounded her.

Last of the the more uncomfortable ones was Ditzy Doo, whose grey coat matched her grey shirt almost perfectly. She was constantly looking from one side to the other, as though uncertain she was even necessarily going in the right direction.

These three were the newest members of the Equestrian Resistance Air Forces, and the newest members of Grey Squadron. This was, so they were told, an honour...

***

The Previous Day...

"What's Grey Squadron?" Ditzy asked, looking down at the grey shirt with wide eyes. Errant Flight, the brown Pegasus that had tossed her and the other two newcomer Pegasi their grey shirts, smiled slightly.

"You'll recall the flying squadrons over St Paul's yesterday?" he asked the three of them. They nodded, sharing a few uneasy glances. With his own nod, Errant Flight continued. "Grey Squadron was one of the first formations of the Resistance Air Force to use the new style of aerial combat we use, and it became known as one of the best." He paused, his smile fading. "All but two of the squadron were killed in the Battle for Manchester, one of whom was me."

"Mr Hell Blazer mentioned that before," Ditzy said. "Something about me being on the propaganda poster?"

Errant Flight looked uncomfortable for a moment, as though this were not a subject he had any particularly great desire to discuss. It probably wasn't, Rainbow Dash thought to herself, considering that when Errant thought about Grey Squadron he was most likely thinking about the ponies he had known himself.

"Grey Squadron's leader was Ditzy Doo," he finally said after a long pause. "It was her idea to form the squadron, her who led it on most of it's best missions." He paused. "She died over Manchester, destroying the Harmonious Order, the flagship of the Equestrian Zeppelin fleet, in the process."

Fluttershy gasped. That she was dead was a fact she had mostly ignored. That Ditzy was dead was a different kind of thing altogether. Rainbow didn't react apart from closing her eyes: it scared how... used to death she was getting. For her own part, Ditzy reacted quite calmly, nodding once.

"That makes sense," she said quietly. "I had a feeling I wouldn't be meeting myself."

"No," Errant said quietly, "you won't."

There was silence for a long moment, before Errant Flight turned to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

"Are there any questions either of you have?" he asked.

"N-no," Fluttershy said at once. Rainbow Dash looked thoughtful for a long moment.

"So this Squadron's a pretty big deal, then?" she finally asked.

"One of the biggest," Errant Flight replied with a grim nod. "I've had ponies nattering at me to rebuild Grey since it was destroyed: it was only Elliot's say so that made it my choice and not high command's."

"So kind of like the Wonderbolts then?" Rainbow said, almost to herself, happy that she could make some comparison. To her surprise, however, Errant Flight scowled.

"I'd better make something clear," he said, now sounding quite stern. "I didn't want you in my squadron. I didn't even want you near it. The idea of having you two in Grey Squadron quite frankly insults me." He paused. "Especially you, Rainbow Dash."

"Me?" Dash asked, frowning in confusion. "Why?"

"The battle over Manchester was your counterpart's operation," Errant Flight explained. "She led the attack personally. She was responsible for the death of a lot of my friends, including Lightning Dust."

The name was familiar to Rainbow Dash, and her eyes widened when she realised that it was the name of her rival from Wonderbolts Academy.

"She was on your Squadron?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Yes she was," Errant said softly. "And one of our best flyers too, if more than a little cocky. But that's beside the point." He narrowed his eyes at the two of them; if looks could kill, they'd have been ashes. "David convinced me to rebuild Grey. He asked me to have you two as part of the squadron. I'll accept his judgement, because Grey was our best and having it back in any way will help the war. I'll even accept that having you on the team might be a good idea: there's no doubt that you at least can fly under pressure."

He addressed this last comment to Rainbow Dash, who looked away shamefaced: she still wasn't entirely happy with having been required to kill ponies, and the memory of that first pony she saw die properly, his eyes wide as a bullet rammed through his skull and sprayed her with blood, flashed though her mind.

"But," Errant Flight continued softly, sounding even more irritated, "I don't have to like it. To be clear: if you're going to be on Grey Squadron, you take it damn seriously. We aren't some showboater squadron of daredevil ponies, we're fighters. I expect you to get that, Rainbow Dash." He paused, regarding the three of them. "Am I clear?"

"Yes sir," Fluttershy said at once.

"Yes sir," Rainbow Dash echoed.

"Good," Errant said with a frown. "Now suit up: we'll be flying to Leeds base tomorrow."

With that, he, Dream Flyer and Swift Strike walked away. The latter two threw glances filled with suspicion back at the two Element bearers.

Rainbow Dash looked down at the grey shirt in her hooves. She exchanged a glance with Fluttershy - neither of them were quite sure what they had gotten themselves into...

***

The Present.

"Flyers, we're coming up to Leeds!" Errant Flight's voice came through the little earpiece. Rainbow Dash frowned slightly: nope, she definitely would never get used to that thing buzzing in her ear. "Begin descent pattern!"

Rainbow, Fluttershy and Ditzy didn't know what the specific descent pattern was, but they were able to follow the flyers in front of them, who began a gentle descent towards a city that lay beneath them. As they flew, Rainbow saw more ponies flying to and from the city, in a wide variety of shirts: there were black shirts, teal shirts, and more than a few ponies who wore white shirts with large symbols printed on the back: some had eagles, some had griffons, some had swords, some had shields. Rainbow could only assume that these ponies were part of different squadrons that weren't colour coded like Grey, Blue, Gold or Green.

The city beneath them had clearly seen better days. A railway line seemed inordinately busy, but most of the city was dark and more than half the buildings seemed utterly ruined, smashed or broken one way or another.

"What happened here?" she heard Fluttershy said, both from behind her and in the earpiece.

"Cut the chatter," the irritated voice of Errant Flight spoke. "We're coming up to the armoury."

As he spoke, Dash could see the target of the ponies' descent. Near a river, there was a large building: towers, walls, palisades and other defences surrounded the building, and ponies and humans alike ran to and fro, busying themselves with... something. A large open area seemed to be the target of their group.

"All flyers finalise descent!" Errant said through the tinny little earpiece. A moment later, everypony landed. Rainbow noted that Errant Flight landed in an almost perfunctory manner: how a pony handled a landing was important in determining what kind of flyer they were. He seemed at all times to be perfunctory to Rainbow Dash - she was naturally more of a showboating flyer, considering her desire to join the Wonderbolts, so his flying seeming a little unshowy made sense. She made a note to herself: she would probably have to be similarly perfunctory in order to succeed. She didn't like it, but...

"All right!" a voice called out. "Grey Squadron, assemble!"

Rainbow glanced around, to see Fluttershy and Ditzy moving to stand in a line. She moved to stand next to Fluttershy, giving her a quick smile before standing at attention. She briefly thanked Celestia - her world's Celestia, she added mentally, not wanting to think about Solamina, the monster in charge of the armies that had attacked St Paul's - that she had been at Wonderbolt's Academy, an experience which had taught her a little about military discipline.

Errant Flight stood in front of the new Grey Squadron, eleven ponies in total standing in a row.

"Let me begin with a warning," he said sternly. "Before any of the administrative horseapples." He began pacing up and down the group. "Grey Squadron is a legend. You being here is an honour, more than I think some of you realise. Before you proceed however, you have to realise one crucial fact. None of you will ever be bigger than the squadron. None of you will ever eclipse names like Lightning Dust, Butter Mellow, Jagged Course or Royal Flush. You are bearers of the greatest legacy our army has ever created in it's brief history." He looked at the ponies with as serious an expression as anypony had ever seen on another. "If any of you can't deal with that, you're welcome to transfer to Red, Blue, Green or Gold."

He gazed up and down the group. None of them moved so much as an inch. He nodded, something resembling approval in his features, before drawing a list from his saddlebag.

"Roll call!" he yelled. "For those of you unused to military protocol," and here his eyes swept across the newcomers, "this is the start of your acclimatisation process. You will be assigned your Squad position here, and your names will be called out in number order. These positions are not final and may be reorganised according to skill, ability, and group coherency as a team. To begin: I am Group Captain Errant Flight. I will be Grey Leader."

He looked at the list and began reading names off. "Commander Dream Flyer!"

"Here sir!" a light blue Pegasus mare - the former leader of Blue Squadron - said. She was the very image of military discipline, a stern expression on her face. Her cutie mark, a pair of wings set within a silver cloud, seemed at odds with her serious nature.

"You're Grey Two," Errant said. He looked back to his list. "Flight Lieutenant White Blossom!"

"Present, sir!" an alabaster mare called. She looked even younger than Dash, with a long blue mane and wide, innocent eyes, offset by a long thin red line that marred her cheek. Her cutie mark was a pink flower petal.

"You're Grey Three," Errant told her. She nodded once briefly as he once more consulted his list.

"Flight Officer Dark Wing," he said, speaking slightly quieter. A grim looking dark grey stallion with a burnished brass shield cutie mark saluted once, saying nothing.

Errant Flight checked the list again before looking up at the stallion. "Any relation to Little Wing and Swift Wing?"

"My cousins, sir," the stallion replied quietly. He was young: probably a lot younger than even Rainbow or Fluttershy.

"I see," Errant said quietly. "You're Grey Four."

"Thank you sir," Dark Wing said. Errant returned his attention to his list.

"Flight Lieutenant Bright Wonder," he said.

A white Pegasus mare with a brown mane and a series of balloons for a cutie mark saluted with a smile. "Present and cheerful, sir!"

Errant nodded, smiling slightly at Bright Wonder's attitude. "Grey Five."

"Thank you sir!" Wonder said with that same smile. Errant returned his attention to his list.

"Flight Officer Silver Spire," he called next.

"Sir," Silver Spire, a silver stallion with a tower set within a shield for a cutie mark, said smartly. "Ready to serve, sir!"

"Good to hear, flyer," Errant Flight said, nodding smartly at the eager officer. "You're Grey Six."

"Thank you sir!" Spire said smartly, saluting. Errant saluted back.

Returning to his list, the squadron leader called out the next name. "Flight Officer Swift Strike!"

A pale red Pegasus with a sword cutie mark saluted with a wry grin. "Former Green Six ready to try harder, sir!"

"Glad to hear it, Grey Seven," Errant Flight said. He looked down at the names, and grimaced slightly. "Pilot Officer Ditzy Doo."

A murmur went up the row, bypassing Strike and Flyer, as well as Rainbow and Fluttershy.

"Um, here," Ditzy said softly. "Sir."

"Good to have you with us," Errant said. "You're our Grey Eight." He looked at the rest of the squadron. "All questions concerning certain members of this roster will wait until the end of the roll call. Clear?"

A murmur of assent went through the ranks and Errant returned his attention to his list. Next up was a dark brown Pegasus stallion with a steel horseshoe for a cutie mark.

"Pilot Officer Solid Hoof," Errant said. "Grey Nine."

"Sir," the pony said gruffly. He seemed incredibly stern and taciturn: whatever his reasons for being here. They hadn't treated him well. Errant nodded once at him, and returned to his list.

"Pilot Officer True Blue," he said.

A timid looking blue stallion with a paintbrush for a cutie mark coughed. "True Blue here, sir. Guess I'm Grey Ten?"

"Right you are, Pilot Officer Blue," Errant said with a smile. "New refugee?"

"Yessir," True Blue said with a wry smile. "Absconded from Apple Bloom's construction yards. No job for a real artist. This isn't either, but if didn't want to be dead weight."

"You've ended up part of Grey Squadron's roster," Errant Flight told him, "so I can guarantee - you won't be dead weight at all."

True Blue smiled happily at that. Errant returned to his list, and Rainbow Dash tensed, knowing subconsciously whose names were next.

"Pilot Officer Rainbow Dash," the squadron leader said, looking her dead in the eye. "Grey Eleven."

Rainbow saluted as smartly as she could, doing her best to seem professional. She could already tell that convincing these ponies would be hard.

"Rainbow Dash, reporting for duty sir," she said smartly, ignoring the murmurs that once more went up and down the line.

"What the buck?" Dark Wing swore under his breath. "Rainbow Dash is dead!"

"Cut the chatter," Errant said. "I said all questions about the unusual names would be fielded and answered after the roll call and I meant it." He returned his attention to the list and spoke the last name. "Pilot Officer Fluttershy."

"Sir," the yellow pony said, almost too quiet to be heard over yet more murmurs.

"You're my Twelve," Errant Flight said. He put the list away. "Alright: you may have all noticed that we've three unusual names in our list..."

"That's an understatement, sir," Bright Wonder said, her eyes wide. "There are three ponies here who should be dead!"

"Nopony knows what happened to Fluttershy in Equestria," True Blue said softly, seemingly hesitant to put an opinion forward, "so maybe she..."

"She's dead," Dark Wing put in, interrupting the timid Pegasus. "Albion showed us her mane with the others at a gathering last year."

"It's Albion's doing that we have these three here," Errant Flight said, regaining control of the conversation. "During the fighting in London, he was briefly transported to what we believe was an parallel universe."

"A what?" Silver Spire said bluntly.

"You wanna explain that one, sir?" Swift Strike asked, looking puzzled. "Even I didn't quite get it, and I was there when Albion told us about it."

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy exchanged glances that both held large amounts of nervous tension: this was going to be difficult to explain. The look on Errant Flight's face was hard to read: he didn't look necessarily happy, but he wasn't angry either. Mostly he just looked weary of his responsibilities, like he didn't want to be here at all.

"Essentially," Flight said after a moment, "there's multiple universes, each with ponies very much like us but a tiny bit different. Albion got sent to an Equestria where Celestia never went mad and became Astra Solamina. He enlisted the help of several ponies to come back and fight with us, Ditzy Doo, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy included."

There were soft murmurs across the line. Rainbow Dash tried to ignore the slightly hostile stares from the other ponies, despite the fact that they were quite… overt in some cases.

"I know some of us have bad blood with the Elements," Errant continued, scowling. "I have some myself. But Albion said these aren't the same ponies, and that man has never lied to me. I expect nopony to be found taking out their vengeance against the Elements of Order on these two. Clear?"

Murmurs of assent went up the line.

"That being said," Errant said, "these three and True Blue have absolutely no military flight experience. For their sake, we will begin this acclimatisation course by doing some basic drills, relearning combat doctrine for Resistance Air Force, followed by learning some Grey Squadron only skills." He smirked. "Including the corkscrew."

Excited murmurs went up and down the line. Rainbow frowned. Whatever this corkscrew was, it seemed to be a big deal.

Errant began pacing up and down the line, before settling at the end that held Ditzy, True Blue, Rainbow and Fluttershy.

"Alright," the tired looking Pegasus said after a moment. "I suppose it would be too much to ask one of you newbies if you know the history of how our forces came to fight how we do, but can any of you tell me how our style differs from how the Equestrian Royal Guard fight in the air?" He paused. "Dash? Fluttershy? You were at London, you should have seen the difference."

The two Element bearers looked at each other, then back at Errant Flight, shrugging. He growled softly at the back of his throat, as though he was disappointed by their lack of an answer.

"Ditzy?" he asked the grey mare standing next to them. She shook her head, and though he looked irritated, he refrained from showing it so much this time. "Alright, I suppose that's to be expected: the battle was pretty frenetic, after all. I guess a little history lesson is in order for you all then."

He took a breath, and began pacing in front of the new Grey Squadron recruits.

"Equestrian Air Force units tend to go for the two line formation," he said, speaking as though he were reciting from memory. "One line in front, one line slightly above and behind." He paused, making sure his audience were still paying attention. "The first line engages an enemy formation in the air. The second line swoops down and takes out the enemies attacking the first. That's how these forces have fought for generations."

He paused.

"Now, when the war began, Resistance Air Forces tried aping that structure," he continued, a wry grin on his face. "Lasted a few months like that before Ditzy Doo joined the forces, and let me tell you: they destroyed us every single time. We lost Devon, Lancaster and Half of Edinburgh thanks to their air superiority. And then Ditzy came along."

He grinned softly, as though at some unseen memory. Next to True Blue, who was paying rapt attention Ditzy was frowning: it was beyond surreal hearing somepony talk about her as though she was dead... but then it wasn't really her, was it?

"Ditzy started off as a line pony," Errant continued, his tone warm. "She flew with seventh wing in the battle over the channel: that's the battle where the HMS Thunderchild destroyed the Solar Magnificence." He sighed, a slightly amused smile on his face. "She'd always had a reputation for being clumsy, but this time it served us well. She broke formation, whether on purpose or just because she couldn't hold - she always told me that it was an accident, but whatever it was, she punched right through the main and reserve lines of the Equestrian Air Force and broke their line. After that it was a desperate free for all - but we were lighter armoured and faster." He grinned at that. "We drove the bastards off. It was the first outright victory we'd ever had as a unit."

He sighed, taking a breath as he reminisced. "After that, the Resistance Air Force was reorganised into Squadrons, with Ditzy heading Grey Squadron. She worked with flyers like Lightning Dust to turn her 'accident' into a style to teach most of our flyers, and we developed what's been affectionately named 'Derp Fu'." He smiled again. "Most of the techniques are simple, involving lightly armoured ponies running rings around the guard, a bit of flailing... but Ditzy developed the corkscrew."

At the mention of this fabled skill, several ponies began whispering excitedly amongst themselves. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but wonder if the corkscrew was as fabled a manoeuvre amongst these ponies as the sonic rainboom had been to her.

"That's how we come to today," Errant Flight said. "All our flyers have learned some parts of Ditzy's 'Derp Fu' technique, but only Grey Squadron ever had the full range and the skilled enough flyers." He gave them all a serious look. "By the time we are done with this training course, I expect every single pony here to match the highest standards of Grey Squadron. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!" the line said enthusiastically.

"Good," Errant said. "For now though, you're all dismissed. Barracks are in that building over there." He pointed at a nearby building with his forehoof. "Just ask for the Grey Squadron barracks."

With that, he walked off, leaving the rest of Grey Squadron to walk towards their barracks building. Immediately, most of the squadron moved away from Rainbow Dash, Ditzy and Fluttershy.

"Well this doesn't seem too bad," Fluttershy said, trying to sound hopeful.

"Yet," Rainbow muttered, watching the retreating backs of their squadron mates.

***

Deep within the Royal Armouries, in a makeshift sickbay, the unconscious David Elliot lay, breathing steadily enough but seemingly utterly asleep. He was, at least, better than he had been, the fever and shaking gone.

Within his mind, however, it was an entirely different story.

He was stood on a green field that seemed to stretch for miles and miles, where nothing was but grass and the odd tree. He was clothed in his battered fighting clothes, and in his hand, light as a feather, was the blade Excalibur.

"Hello?" he called out, curious to see whether there was anyone here,

"Hello," a voice replied. Elliot span around, but he could see no one.

"Who's there?" he called out.

"You have done well," the voice said, ignoring Elliot's question. "But you can do better."

The voice was strange: sometimes, it sounded like the voice of a deep voiced man, and other times it was the soft tones of a woman, but he was never conscious of the change and it always felt like the voice had always been what it was when it spoke. He chalked it up to the madness of dreams.

"If... if you can help me, I would appreciate it," Elliot said, uncertain about this voice. "But I would like to know who you are."

"I am that which you fight for, and fight in the name of," the strange voice said enigmatically. "And your fight is not done. You are here because you have not learned, yet, how to use your power well enough to stop the Dark One."

"The Dark One?" Elliot asked, frowning at the term. "You mean Solamina?"

"That is the name," the voice said. "Or one of them. It has held many over the years. As of yet, you cannot best it. This must change."

The voice was right: Elliot knew that he would have, somehow, to find the strength to battle Astra Solamina on her own terms, or else he would never be able to free the last humans from the threat of extinction.

"What do I do?" Elliot asked, gripping Excalibur tighter. Suddenly, the voice came from behind him, tangible.

"You must fight."

He span, to find himself facing an armoured knight with his own Zweihander. The figure was almost the double of the Avatar, save for the closed off helmet.

"You must train hard to control the power of Albion," the knight said simply. "To channel that power to it's fullest potential, despite the pain and suffering it causes you. When the time comes, you must be strong enough to challenge the Dark One - and not only that you must be strong enough to defeat her!"

"I understand," Elliot said. He closed his eyes, channeled his breathing, and prepared for his training to begin.

"Are you prepared?" the knight asked, raising the blade.

"Yes," Elliot said, readying his own, the blade light in his hand. "I am."

And with that, they clashed.

Author's Notes:

EDIT: This Chapter was edited 28th July 2015.