Chapter Thirty Eight: An Illustrious Ambush.

***

The sky over Plymouth. April 20th. 2030.

"Grey Leader to all flyers, sound off."

The voice of Errant Flight was comforting for Rainbow Dash by now. They had come far since the early days when he had been suspicious of her. They had flown together, fought together, killed together. It was a bond only forged in battle, a bond between flyers - the bond of family. She hadn't expected to find that kind of fidelity in this place, but she wasn't going to object to it.

Had you asked Errant Flight if he considered these ponies to be his family in the same way, he might not have answered you. In his heart, these ponies would never replace the sense of belonging he had felt with his Ditzy, with Cloud Ranger and Lightning Dust and the others from the old Grey Squadron: they had been his team, his comrades - his brothers and sisters in arms. But... but they had started being something else. A new family. Maybe that was enough for him. He didn’t know for certain.

The Squadron was on a very particular mission: reports from the blockade, specifically from the HMS Illustrious, which had been near Plymouth at this stage of her patrol cycle, had reported a large contingent of Royal Guard chariots inbound to Plymouth, their purpose no doubt to reinforce the Guard forces already in the city. Errant Flight and Grey Squadron had been ordered to intercept them.

The rest of the Squadron began sounding off as per Flight’s instruction.

"Grey Two, on station," said Dream Flyer, the blue pony's voice stern and calm.

"Grey Three," came the voice of Ditzy, who had been shuffled to that position after Leeds. "I'm here."

"Grey Four, standing by," Rainbow Dash added.

"Grey Five: give me something to kill!" Dark Wing's voice came. The stallion had been somewhat bored by the comparative lack of action the Squadron had faced.

"Grey Six, here," came the quiet voice of Fluttershy. She, too, had been transferred further up the Squadron, so as to still be part of Rainbow's flight. Errant Flight had accepted quite readily the fact that Fluttershy worked best with her friend.

"Grey Seven," came the voice of White Blossom quietly. "On station." White Blossom had been moved to the Seven position, where she now commanded a flight. Errant Flight felt it was the right decisions considering her experience it was best to have her in charge of some flyers, especially the two she found herself working with.

"Grey Eight, standing by," came the slightly angry voice of Pure Heart, a pale green Pegasus mare who was one of the Squadron's new members. Her mane was shorn and her cutie mark was a bright red heart, though it was badly scarred for reasons none of the Squadron had dared ask her. She was permanently annoyed or angry or itching for battle, and the slight unpredictability this gave her made it best to leave her under the command of a more experienced combat flyer like Blossom.

"Grey Nine here," came the voice of Star Blitz, the second new addition to the Squadron. In contrast to the angry Pure Heart, Blitz was permanently easy going, almost too much so. His lackadaisical nature seemed at odds with Grey Squadron's modus operandi, but he was a good flyer, scoring reasonably well on all sims.

"Grey Ten, haven't got rid of me yet," came the cheerful voice of Bright Wonder. The cheerful pony had also been moved to a flight leader position, her experience proving invaluable for the two ponies under her command.

“This is Grey Eleven,” Solid Hoof’s voice came tersely. The pony didn’t seem to mind having been moved down the numbers, nor did he seem to mind the fact that he was not made a flight leader - to him, any opportunity to fly against the enemy was an opportunity in and of itself.

“Grey Twelve, standing by!” the sharp, nervy voice of Lily Picker, a deep sea-green Pegasus with a long flowing mane, said quickly. Picker was the last replacement of the squadron, and seemed - if it were possible - even more uncertain and nervy than True Blue, the pony she replaced, had been. Still, her scores checked out.

“Alright,” Flight said. “According to the best Intel reports we can get, the enemy reinforcement convoy should be ahead of us. We’ll be going through a cloud front to get the drop on them and then tearing them up a bit. We won’t get them all, but hopefully we’ll disrupt their chains of command and make sure a few of those buckers get radically thrown off course. One flight, you’ll stay on me and target the chariots themselves. Two and Three flights, your team is on the escort ponies - rip them apart!”

“Gotcha, boss,” Rainbow Dash said, smirking to herself.

“Understood,” White Blossom added.

“Four Flight,” Flight continued, “you’re running interference. Mix it up, attack random targets, keep the bastards guessing.”

“Randomness is my middle name,” Bright Wonder said cheerfully. “Actually, it’s not, it’s Glenda, but you know what I mean.”

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about, Wonder,” Flight chuckled, sounding cheerful. “Check your HUDs, we should be coming up to the intercept zone now.”

Rainbow Dash checked her HUD obediently - sure enough, a little bit of text in the corner read “Estimated Target Zone, 2,000 metres and closing.”

“HUD confirmed,” she said, her voice now filled with determination. Quickly, the rest of the team checked in that their HUDs were active.

“Alright team,” Errant Flight said through the comms. “Let’s go out there and show these buckers what we’re made of!”

As one, the Squadron flew into the deep cloud cover, a dark grey storm cloud near the intercept zone.

“How do we know we won’t get lost?” Fluttershy asked over a private comm channel.

“Come on, Flutters, even if this is a different world, when have you known me to get lost in a cloud?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Just stick with me and we’ll be fine.”

“Ok,” her friend said quietly. The quietness, however, was less to do with the Pegasi’s voice and more to do with the comm signal’s sudden cutting out.

“Flutters?” Rainbow asked, frowning. She tapped her comm. “Fluttershy?”

Her friend didn’t answer, so she cycled to the main comm channel and began trying the rest of the Squadron.

“Grey Leader, this is Grey Four, come in.” There was no response save for the noise of static in her ear. “Grey Lead? Dark Wing? Anypony?”

She cursed - the cloud might have done something to the comms… or there might be something else afoot. With no other choice, she checked her HUD - she was now less than 700 metres from the estimated intercept zone.

A moment later, she burst through a layer of cloud - and cursed.

There were Royal Guard flying around all right, but they weren’t a vulnerable chariot company. Instead, a full force of heavily armed Royal Guard Pegasi Squadrons was arrayed against Dash. Behind the company was a small Equestrian frigate-class Zeppelin, the name ERAS Interdiction printed on the side in bright golden letters. Despite it’s relatively small size (certainly when compared with the super-Zeppelin class) the vessel was still massive and imposing. Rainbow Dash could also see Unicorns on some of the decks of the Zeppelin, their horns glowing, and realised that they must be the source of the interference.

“The hay with that,” she swore. She pushed her wings to their limits and immediately headed for the Zeppelin. All around her, she could see other members of the Squadron burst out of the clouds, but without communication, there was no way they’d be able to co-ordinate their efforts, and without co-ordination it was almost impossible that they’d survive the battle. Dodging any Guards in her way, she headed straight for the deck of the Interdiction.

She caught a glimpse of Errant Flight and Dream Flyer barrelling into a Guard line, knocking dozens of the enemy out of formation, several minus limbs and wings, and she grinned: maybe they’d have more of a chance than she had thought.

A moment later, she landed on the deck of the Zeppelin with a slight thud. The Unicorns weren’t fast enough to react before she charged them, knocking several off into the void and cutting more down with her wrist-blades. There were more on the other side of the Zeppelin, but upon seeing her their concentration was broken, some panicking at the sight of the angry cyan mare and some angrily throwing spells her way.

“... repeat, this is Grey Leader to all flyers, it’s a trap!” she suddenly heard the voice of Errant Flight speaking through her comms. “Can anypony hear me!”

“We read you, boss!” came Bright Wonder’s voice, sounding vaguely panicked. “What’s happening?!”

“This is Grey Four!” Rainbow said quickly, dodging spells as more Guardsponies emerged from the Zeppelin’s gondola. “I’m on the Zeppelin - the enemy had some kind of jamming spell blocking the comms. I took care of it!”

“Good work, Four,” Flight said, sounding angry. “See if you can’t disable that thing. Five and Six, get on there and give her a hoof! The rest of you, on me, try to break these buckers’ line!”

A chorus of affirmatives sounded, and Rainbow was relieved to hear Fluttershy’s voice. A moment later, her friends landed on the opposite side of the Zeppelin, taking out the remaining unicorns. Dash herself engaged the ponies charging her, the combination of her bladework and solid kicks dispatching her enemies quickly. As she fought, she saw the rest of the Squadron charge through the Guard lines, scattering yet more of the buckers.

A moment later, she burst onto the bridge of the ship. The Captain, a unicorn mare in a gaudy Guard dress uniform, turned in shock, but Rainbow’s blade impaled her in the throat before she could react. The rest of the crew were Earth Ponies, and she was able to weave in between them, cutting and kicking until she was left alone on the bridge of the Zeppelin, surrounded by corpses. Breathing heavily, she suddenly gasped in pain. She looked down and saw a nasty laceration along her chest, probably from some Guard’s spear that had caught her during the melee. Cursing, she slumped to the floor, the injury quickly taking it’s toll.

A moment later, Dark Wing and Fluttershy, both of them covered in blood and Wing nursing a cut above his left eye, burst onto the bridge. Fluttershy immediately went to her friend’s side with a gasp.

“Are you ok?” she asked Rainbow, sounding concerned.

“It’s just a scratch, Flutters, no big deal,” Rainbow said with a cocky grin, which turned into a grimace as her friend examined the wound.

“Will she be alright?” Dark Wing asked.

“It’s not that bad,” Fluttershy said quietly. “But we won’t be able to fly her off.”

“Gotcha” Dark Wing said. He held a hoof up to his communicator. "Grey Five to Grey Leader."

"Here," Errant Flight’s voice spoke.

“Zeppelin secured,” Wing said shortly. “One serious injury, no casualties, but the injury is bad enough to prevent flight evac. What do you want us to do?”

“Hold the bridge,” Errant's voice replied, a touch of humour in his tone. “The Zeppelin’ll make a shiny present for Prince Blueblood. He likes airships, right?”

“Understood,” Wing said, not commenting on Flight’s (most likely rhetorical) question. “We’ve got this, sir.”

He went over to the helm, a confident expression on his face, placed a hoof on it, and then paused. After several seconds of staring at the Zeppelin’s controls he turned to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash with a slightly bemused expression.

“Does anypony know how to actually fly this thing?” he asked.

***

Equestrian Resistance/British Defence Force staging area. Outside Plymouth.

The Zeppelin landed a little clumsily: it turned out that none of Grey Squadron were exactly adept at the piloting of the lumbering vehicle, though Errant Flight and Bright Wonder both gave it a try (Errant because he had been on Zeppelins before, and Bright Wonder because she really wanted to have a go on the wheel). In the end though, they managed to land it safely - somehow.

None of the Squadron had fallen - they had been lucky, though Errant Flight was more willing to attribute it to Rainbow Dash noticing the Unicorn jammers than anything else. Apart from some injuries - Dash’s most severely, but almost everypony had a few scrapes - they had managed to escape unhamred from the ambush. It had been a close thing though.

When Grey Squadron walked off of the Interdiction, they were greeted by a storm of cheers from the assembled pony and human troops. The combined forces of Equestrian Resistance soldiers and drivers, human soldiers, medics of both species and a host of other individuals were present, and it made the Squadron more than a little… uncomfortable. At the top of the ramp, Errant Flight turned to look at the others, his expression a bit sheepish.

“Wasn’t quite expecting the welcoming committee,” he said. “Sorry.”

Rainbow Dash giggled slightly. Fluttershy looked a little mortified.

“This is probably gonna be good for the propaganda,” Dark Wing noted dispassionately. “Grey Squadron does it again.”

“I bet there’s gonna be an awesome party,” Bright Wonder said with a grin.

Rainbow laughed out loud, then gasped in pain as she tore her wound open again slightly, causing Fluttershy to fuss over her wounds and apparently forget how many people and ponies were outside.

“I need to introduce you to Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow said to the cheerful white Pegasus with a grin. To her surprise, Bright Wonder’s face fell.

“I’d rather not, all the same to you,” she said, sounding oddly serious. “I mean, you’re lovely, you and Fluttershy, but to me she’s still…”

Rainbow nodded, though her face fell too for a moment. She had forgotten, considering how well regarded she and Fluttershy had become, that the rest of her friends from home would still be seen slightly as the ponies who had been murderers and destroyers. It made her slightly sad to thinkn that she couldn't ever enjoy spending time with both her new friends and her old ones.

The moment passed as Errant led the Squadron down the ramp, to even wilder cheers. Rainbow sighed - this was good, at least, but all the same, she missed her friends. She hoped she would see them again soon.

***

“How in the name of ever-loving God did this fuckup happen?!”

Major Alexander Redmond - fresh from the rebuilding of the London garrisons - had been reassigned to Plymouth. This was not exactly where David Elliot would have wanted the man had anybody bothered asking him - Redmond was not his favourite person and the time Elliot had spent in a coma had not tempered the Major’s… attitude problems.

Redmond had called a meeting with various command level personnel present at the Plymouth operations. Elliot was there along with the Doctor, Hell Blazer and a handful of other individuals, including Grey Squadron.

“What exactly do you mean?” Elliot asked, trying to ignore the headache he was getting.

“You know damn well what I mean!” Redmond said angrily. “We get intel from HMS Illustrious that an Equestrian chariot troop convoy is in the air. We dispatch the best damn Squadron we have, and it turns out to be a motherfucking ambush that they only survive because of sheer dumb luck!” He paused, before looking at Errant Flight. “No offence intended against your ponies, Group Captain Flight.”

“None taken,” Flight replied drily.

“The Lusty reported in using their correct channels,” the timid voice of a reedy red-headed man in labcoat and glasses spoke up. “So it was definitely them.”

Elliot glanced at Danny - his full name was Daniel Crane, but nobody used his full name. Danny was a tech whizz, and had been one of the various non-combatant members of the BDF at London. He was also one of the best people in his field: while computer skills might not have been altogether useful against the Equestrian army directly, those skills were invaluable in terms of keeping the Defence forces in contact with one another.

“How do you explain them giving faulty information, then?” Redmond asked belligerently.

“I don’t, sir,” Danny replied. “But you can’t lie to the computer, and there’s no way anyone could forge those codes. It was the Illustrious.”

Elliot suddenly had a sinking feeling in his gut, one that made him want to be ill. It couldn’t be… except, horribly enough, it could

“What is it, Dave?” Hell Blazer asked, frowning at his friend.

“Danny,” Elliot said by way of response, “how many personnel aboard the Illustrious?”

“Six hundred and three, at last roster,” Danny replied at once. “Why?”

“When was she last spotted by friendly ships?” Elliot continued, now sounding more panicked.

“Um,” Danny said, checking his computer. “The JDS Osumi clocked her three weeks ago, but since then she’s been on isolated patrol.” Danny gave Elliot a look. “Why?”

“Shit,” Elliot swore quietly.

“What are you thinking, Commander Elliot?” Redmond asked, frowning at him.

“They had all the right command codes,” Elliot said quietly, almost to himself. “So they must’ve ponified at least some of the command crew…”

It was Hell Blazer who realised what Elliot was thinking first. “Ah horse shit,” he swore.

Errant Flight realised next, his eyes widening and the blood draining from his face in horror. “That’s an entire Invincible class aircraft carrier. They have all our comm codes, all our traffic…”

“What are you talking about?!” Redmond asked angrily. Elliot gave him the most serious look he thought he could give anyone.

“The Lusty did send that message, Major Redmond,” he said quietly. “But her crew just switched sides in the worst way possible.”

Redmond met Elliot’s gaze, looking confused for a moment, and then he cursed. He smacked his desk angrily.

“Bastards,” he growled. “Fuckin’ bastards.”

“If the Lusty is in the hands of the Converted, it makes her a powerful weapon,” Errant Flight said. “Something’ll need to be done.”

“What can we do?” Danny asked, his eyes wide with horror at the implications.

Elliot turned away from the group. By chance, his eyes fell upon the captured Zeppelin landed outside. He narrowed his eyes at it, then smiled. He turned back to the group, now full of determination.

“We take it back,” he said lightly.

***

Somewhere beneath Scotland. April 23rd. 2030.

“Dammit!”

Twilight didn’t like swearing. It was a bad habit she had apparently picked up over the course of her time in this world. Nonetheless, she felt like it was getting to be a habit she couldn’t drop: every failure felt like a further setback.

She had spent weeks trying her best to convince the portal she had initially managed to open to do something other than create a vague portal-shaped mass that was too small and too unstable to be of any use. She had tried various different variations of the incantation, various different power levels, and even some ancient artefacts that Giles had suggested would amplify magical power… but nothing had happened - the portals remained unusable.

“Cheer up,” Giles said from behind her, handing her a cup of tea. “I’m sure we’ll get there in the end.”

“That’s just it,” Twilight replied with a frown. She levitated the tea and had a sip - it was surprisingly good stuff. “We might not have long before it really is the end.”

"No, you're right," Giles said softly. "But getting frustrated about it won't lead us anywhere." He paused. "Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way."

"How else could we possibly look at it?" Twilight asked, frowning at him.

“I’m…” Giles frowned, and then he sighed. “Well, I’m not quite certain.”

There was a moment’s pause as the two of them sat in silence, contemplating their options. Suddenly, Twilight had a thought - it was a crazy thought, but it might just work.

"Well," she said slowly, a grin forming on her face, "we could look at it by asking somepony who already knows what we're looking for."

Giles blinked: for a moment he didn't know what Twilight meant, and then he realised, and frowned again, this time in confusion.

"Would he be able to help us?" he asked, taking his glasses off and cleaning them nervously. “Given his… condition?”

"There's only one way to be sure," Twilight replied lightly. "We'd need to bring Well Spring here."

***

Equestrian Resistance/British Defence Force staging area. Outside Plymouth. May 1st 2030.

“Load them up, load them up! Move, move, move!”

Rarity frowned as she jogged up the ramp of the Interdiction. Elliot had dragged her and the rest of Everfree team from Plymouth’s streets early that morning. They had jogged all the way from the city’s centre to the staging area, equipment and all, an were all thoroughly tired out from the exertion. Still, Rarity tried her best to look like she wasn’t exhausted, if only to set an example to the squad.

Rarity had taken the “Everfree One” position from Applejack - while her friend had recovered enough from the horror of having killed an alternative version of her cousin, she adamantly refused to take command, insisting that she had failed in that regard. While Rarity didn’t think she had at all, she wasn’t going to argue the point. If her friend needed to not be in charge, that was fine. She didn’t feel comfortable with being in charge herself of course, but she had stepped up to the plate willingly. Her friends needed her, after all.

Once they were all on board the Interdiction, Rarity sighed and sat down, the others in the squad following her example, especially Desert Wind, who in addition to all the other gear had been lugging his P220. Only True Grit and Applejack seemed to have managed the jog without any real difficulty, but even they sat down gratefully.

“Alright team!” they heard an energised and familiar voice speak. From further on the main deck came Elliot, hand cannon at his side and daggers sheathed in his back-scabbards. Behind him came Hell Blazer and the Doctor. “The mission is to recapture the HMS Illustrious. Grey and Upsilon Squadrons will be assisting us in this endeavour.”

“The Illustrious?” Lyra asked with a frown of recognition. “I’ve heard that name.”

“She’s one of the blockade,” Sapphire Steel said grimly. “But how can they have captured her?”

“We don’t know,” Elliot said quietly. “But they’ve been sending false information out. We think some of the command crew at least have been converted.”

“Poor buckers,” Desert Wind muttered.

“In any case: Grey and Upsilon will clear a landing zone for us, and then this hunk of shit will land us on her!” Elliot said.

“Why are we even using this thing?” Applejack asked. Rarity threw her a look and she threw a quick grin back to show she was alright.

“Because it’s expendable,” Elliot said. “Can’t afford to risk high-importance equipment like a full transport fleet on this kind of mission.”

“And yet they can somehow afford to risk us,” Rarity pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

“No, they can’t,” Elliot said, and then he grinned. “But I browbeat the bastards.”

“Wonderful,” Rarity said. “Well, I guess we should be thankful you’re coming in with us.”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Elliot smiled at her as he sat himself down. “This promises to be one hell of a fight.”

“Yay,” Hell Blazer said, speaking for the first time since he had popped up. He looked slightly green.

“What’s up with you?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Airsick?”

Hell Blazer stuck his tongue out at her - the only obscene gesture a pony could really make - and then pulled it back quickly, looking even more ill.

“Not to worry,” the Doctor said helpfully. “If we don’t make it back, no one will know.”

“Buck off,” the yellow pony said quietly. Everypony chuckled at that, and the mood lifted. This might be difficult - but they’d be ready for it.

“All set back there?” a pony who’d volunteered to be one of the crew of the Interdiction called back.

“Ready as we’ll ever be!” Elliot called back.

“Alright!” the pony called back. “Brace for liftoff!”

***

Outside the Interdiction,Grey Squadron and Upsilon Squadron were preparing for battle. Grey Fox had already promised Errant Flight that, once again, his team would follow Grey’s lead, and now the two groups were finalising their weapons checks.

“Alright!” Errant called to his team. “When we get there, we go in hard and we go in fast: our job is to clear the upper deck of any hostiles and then go in with Everfree team. Upsilon will be helping us with the first objective, then holding the upper deck to ensure safe extraction. Are we clear?”

There was a chorus of affirmatives. Rainbow Dash, standing in amongst the ponies of Grey, smiled grimly - this might be difficult, but she was sure part of it would be kind of fun too.

“Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked from next to her.

“Yeah?” Rainbow asked.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” her butter yellow friend asked quietly. The two of them glanced down at the only recently healed injury on Rainbow’s chest, but she shrugged.

“I’ll be fine,” she said quietly.

Before Fluttershy could say anything else (and the look on her face told Rainbow that she very much wanted to), there was a loud noise from the Zeppelin as it’s engines began churning.

“That’s our cue, Grey!” Errant called out with a grin. “Let’s rock!”

With that, he took off into the air, the rest of the Squadron following him. Behind them, Upsilon Squadron flew up after them. Rainbow ignored a slight twinge from her injury, instead focusing on the task at hand.

It was time to go to work.