Chapter Forty Four: The Last Night Before Judgement.

***

Plymouth base. June 5th. 2030.

Three ponies sat together at a table, each of them thinking hard about a very important event that would take place tomorrow. One of them was Pinkie Pie, who despite looking more serious than anypony and anybody had ever seen her, had the bounciest mane she had ever had as though she were in the prime of her party-planning life. Another was Vinyl Scratch, who seemed to be caught in an internal conflict (that she was apparently trying her best to ignore) about even sitting at the same table as Pinkie Pie. The third pony was Bright Wonder of Grey Squadron, who was taking notes with a grin of glee on her face at even getting to be in a party with Pinkie Pie - she was, after all, a legend of party planning, and Wonder had often wished in happier times to meet her. That, of course, had been before the war, and it tickled Wonder pink (no pun intended) that she had managed to somehow meet her idol.

Elliot had asked the three of them several days ago to plan a party: the last party, the party to theoretically end all parties (which, as Elliot had pointed out, it might do, given the "all or nothing" nature of this last battle). The party would start this afternoon - the three of them had been planning for at least a week for the separate elements that would go into the celebration. It had to at once be a celebration of their imminent victory and - though nopony wanted this to be too obvious, and indeed Pinkie Pie seemed to go dead silent whenever they brought it up - be such a party as to make a fitting final memory for the soldiers who would never return.

While they were talking, Elliot walked over to them, the man looking entirely too cheerful. He was in slightly less combat-ready clothing than normal: a simple vest, trousers and boots, and he looked as though he had been up all night. There were flecks of something red around the bottom of the vest, but none of the ponies picked up on it.

"How's the preparation going?" he asked.

"Not so badly," Vinyl said, sounding somewhat subdued.

"Everything's gonna be wonderful!" Pinkie added with a grin. "We're almost ready for it!"

"I'm glad," Elliot said. He looked troubled for a moment. “It’s important that we get this one right.”

“Don’t worry, Albion,” Vinyl said with a cheeky grin. “This’ll knock your socks off.”

“Good to know,” he said, returning the grin. It faded slightly as he turned to go, and he strode off, clearly deep in thought about... something.

"I wonder what's up with Albion," Bright Wonder asked aloud.

"Mr Elliot's always thinking about a lot - it makes his smiles all weird," Pinkie said sagely, a slightly sad smile on her face. "It's kinda his thing. I wouldn't worry too much about it."

Wonder nodded.

"How d'you know so much about Albion?" Vinyl asked, frowning suspiciously at Pinkie.

"Well he is the one who brought us all here," Pinkie pointed out. "If I didn't know him I'd be a pretty poor friend."

Vinyl grunted noncommittally.

"So," Wonder said after a moment, going through a mental checklist. "Vinyl's providing the music, we've got the decorations being done by Pinkie, and I'm sorting the lighting out."

"Sounds about right," the DJ said shortly. "All we need now is the people."

"Well, I think the army's got that one sorted," Pinkie said brightly.

"Yeah," Vinyl said, her voice slightly sour. "Hey Worder, do me a favour?"

"Sure!" Wonder said brightly.

"Can you go start putting the lights up?" the DJ asked, smiling. Pinkie picked up on the fakeness of the smile immediately, but said nothing, sensing that the DJ wanted her attention.

“Sure thing!” Wonder said with a grin. With a bounding leap, she flew off towards a pile of lights the three of them had ordered put ready for the party. A moment later, Vinyl sighed.

“Can I talk to you about something Pinkie?” she asked the pink party pony.

“Sure thing, Vinyl,” Pinkie replied with a grin. “What’s up?”

“I bucking hate you,” Vinyl replied conversationally. There was an awkward pause while Pinkie disgested this bit of information.

“Okie… dokie… lokie?” she said after a minute, raising an eyebrow. “Um… I’m sorry…?”

“No,” Vinyl said shortly. She sighed heavily. “I am.”

There was a long pause as the two sat in silence. Pinkie didn’t like sitting in silence, but something about the way Vinyl looked told her that maybe she should leave the DJ to think before saying anything.

“Do you know what this war’s done?” Vinyl asked. “To me?” she added when Pinkie opened her mouth to reply.

“No,” Pinkie said honestly.

“I ran away from Canterlot,” Vinyl said bluntly. “I ran away. I wasn’t meant to come alone - there was… somepony… who was meant to be coming with me, but… when Doc Hooves came to Canterlot to get those of us who were going… she wasn’t with us. She was in Manehatten.” Vinyl paused, her eyes drifting off to the side in deep thought. “Doc Hooves had to take us all - all of the Exodus - away from Equestria. The war had started. Celestia declared herself Solamina. And…”

“You had to leave your special somepony behind?” Pinkie asked sympathetically.

Vinyl looked at Pinkie blankly, and then slowly, she nodded.

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “I did.”

Pinkie said nothing, waiting for Vinyl to continue.

“Hooves went back after,” the DJ said after a moment. “But she wouldn’t go. She stayed behind, tried to help the Resistance in Equestria. She’s still there.” She paused. “The war’s taken everything from me.”

“And when I came with the others…” Pinkie said, nudged softly.

“When you came here,” Vinyl continued after a moment’s pause to gather her thoughts, “I just… I thought about everything that’s gone wrong. The fighting. The death. All the ponies we left behind. And then there you guys were - and I just thought to myself, ‘why are they special? Why do they get the Ponyville that isn’t a bucking factory? Why do they get a Canterlot that isn’t about to get stormed by an army? What do they have that we didn’t?’” She paused again. “You know, a lot of folks resented you because you looked like the Elements of Order. Bet you thought I did too.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie admitted, her mane deflating slightly. “Just a bit.”

“Well, it wasn’t,” Vinyl said, frowning. “But you know what? I don’t think it’s right to hate you for what you have that we don’t.” She smiled wryly. “I guess it’s nopony’s fault what hoof they got dealt. We just need to deal with it.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie said again, her mane reinflating. She smiled widely. “Thanks Vinyl.”

“No problem Pinkie,” Vinyl said with a grin. “Now let’s sort this party out!”

***

The party was taking place in a field: the space allotted for the party was about a hundred and fifty metres square - there was a stage at one end with Vinyl’s DJ mixing desk and a microphone present. There were two long rows of party refreshments, one on each side of the stage, and finally there were eight big floodlights - one for each corner and one for each side.

Twilight and the other members of Everfree squad, as well as all of Grey Squadron, entered the party area along with the rest of those from the Last Army who would be present, which was downright all of them: the knights of Albion were all prepared to, as one of them had put it, “eat, drink, and be merry!”, there were more Resistance ponies and Defence Force soldiers present than Twilight had ever seen present in any one place, and capping it all off she could even see Wallace Springfield and the rest of the Dead Men.

“This sure looks like it’s gonna be one to remember,” Applejack said with a grin.

“Yeah,” Rainbow added with a grin. “This is awesome!”

“You’ve outdone yourself, Pinkie,” Rarity said to the pink party pony. She grinned.

“Aw shucks guys, thanks,” she said, “but I had help from Bright Wonder and Vinyl!”

“We didn’t do that much,” Bright Wonder said sheepishly.

“Sure you did!” Pinkie said loudly, putting a hoof around her new friend’s shoulder. “Ya know, there’ll need to be a new party pony in Ponyville when we go home…”

“Quiet for a sec’, Pinkie,” Applejack said. “I think Elliot’s gonna say somethin’!”

Sure enough, up on the stage the group could see David Elliot standing, a soft smile on his face as he raised a hand for silence. After a few moments, silence descended onto the field.

“Tomorrow,” he said loudly, so that everyone could hear him, “we’re going to start the battle that ends this war, one way or another. A lot of us might not make it back from that one. This might be the end of everything.”

Everyone and everypony looked at each other, a slightly nervous energy in the air. That wasn’t exactly how they thought he’d start this speech.

“But,” the Avatar continued, “if this is the last battle we fight together, I intend to make it a fucking awesome one. And I intend to have the best damn night of my life before it! We’re gonna bring down the fucking sky with our rave, then tomorrow we’ll start bringing the fucking sky on Solamina’s head!”

Everyone cheered - now that was more what they had been expecting!

Elliot turned to Vinyl. “Hit it!” he said with a grin. The mare grinned back and hit a switch on her desk.

A moment later, music blared into life, and suddenly everyone started dancing.

The last party before the end had started.

***

“#Tonight, we are young!
So I’ll set the world on fire!
We can burn brighter!
Than a Sun!”

Errant Flight was many things: great flyer, great leader, good at poker (though he had never quite bested Royal Flush - not that anypony ever had). He was, however, a terrible dancer. He knew that - and if he hadn’t, the muffled giggles of Lily Picker and White Blossom as they watched him flail about were certainly a big hint. Still, he didn’t particularly care - if he was going to fight in the biggest battle ever fought on Equestrian soil, he’d have as much fun as he could tonight, absolutely poor dancing and all.

“Hey, Captain,” a voice said, a slightly cheeky edge tinting the tone. He turned to find himself facing a smirking Dream Flyer, who was (for once) not wearing her Grey Squadron uniform.

“Hey yourself, Commander,” he said with a similar smirk. “What’s with the rank?”

“Nothing,” she said with a grin. “I just thought that somepony who’d hit Group Captain should be a better dancer. You look like you've got three left hooves."

“Care to show me how it’s done then, Commander?” he offered, only half joking. Dream Flyer’s grin faded a tad, and for a moment Flight felt like he’d gone too far, and then she grinned even wider.

“Might as well, boss,” she said cheekily. “Somepony’s gotta stop you showing us all up.”

She grabbed one of his hooves and span him, before grabbing his shoulder and pulling him close. She waggled her eyebrows at him, and he grinned too.

This might just turn out to be the best damn night he’d had in a long time...

#“The moon is on my side,
I have no reason to roam,
So will someone come and carry me home tonight…
The angels never arrived,
But I can hear the choir,
So will someone come and carry me home..”

***

“Alright!” Rainbow said, looking between Bright Wonder, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Desert Wind, Solid Hoof and Applejack. “This is how it works.”

She pushed a series of mugs full of a frothy brown liquid in front of the group of ponies. “This here is genuine Equestria Ale, the finest stuff the Resistance has. We’re gonna drink as much of the stuff as we can. Last one standing wins.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Fluttershy asked quietly. “I mean, we - we have to be up tomorrow really early and…”

“And Twilight’s got a spell that cures hangovers in ten seconds flat,” Rainbow said with a grin. “Trust me Shy, we’ll be fine. Besides, we might all croak tomorrow and -”

“Less talk, more alcohol,” Desert Wind said gruffly, grabbing his first mug.

“Seconded,” Solid Hoof grunted.

“Ok,” Rainbow said, shrugging. “Start drinking, ponies!”

Applejack downed her first drink in one, Rainbow right behind her. Pinkie and Bright Wonder drank their slower, apparently racing each other. Pinkie slammed her mug down first.

“Oh yeah!” she said. “I win!”

“We’re not done yet, sugarcube,” Applejack pointed out as she downed her second.

“Not the big game, silly,” Pinkie said with an amused frown. “I mean the first race between me and Wonder. We both know who’s gonna win already, no point playing that game!”

“Huh? Really?” Rainbow asked, pausing in chugging her third.

“Sure,” Bright Wonder said with a shrug. "I mean it's obvious, isn't it?"

She and Pinkie picked up their second mugs and started another race, chugging their ale so fast that it looked like it would spill, yet miraculously neither managed to spill a drop.

Rainbow and Applejack shared a glance of amusement.

“So tell me,” Applejack said with a smirk. “Who is gonna win?”

“That,” Pinkie said as she lowered her mug a half second before Bright Wonder, “would be telling. Also - I win again!”

“Well darn!” Bright Wonder said with a frown. “I’ll beat you yet!”

“Best outta twenty seven!” Pinkie yelled.

“You’re on!” Wonder yelled back with a grin. They each grabbed a third mug.

Rainbow shrugged and chugged another mug. She had managed five now, and was feeling a little tipsy, but this was fine. She’d done more than this...

***

”#D-d-d-d-d-d-drop the bass!”

“This is a little louder than I normally like,” Rarity said quietly. She and Twilight were sat on the edge of the party, observing the festivities with equally tired expressions. This didn’t strike either of them as a good idea but it wasn’t like they could stop anyone at this stage - nor could either of them really blame anyone for wanting a last celebration before what was as likely to be the end of their lives as it was the end of the Solaminan Empire.

“Yeah,” Twilight agreed. “Still, it’s a good party if you like loud music.”

“Which everypony seems to,” Rarity said with a nod. She took a sip of something that might have been punch. “Has it occurred to you that this might be the last party some of these people have?”

“Yeah,” Twilight said honestly. Her face fell. “It might be our last.”

“Yes,” Rarity agreed with a nod. The two of them exchanged glances.

“Oh what the hay,” Twilight said, grinning slightly. “Let’s get down to the beat, or whatever the foals say these days!”

Rarity laughed at that. “I wish Sweetie Belle could hear you say that - I imagine she’d have a choice word or two for you.”

Still laughing, the two of them stood up and started dancing - the music was too loud and they’d probably die tomorrow - but that was tomorrow’s problem. Tonight, they had a party to enjoy.

***

Hell Blazer sat on the table near Rainbow’s group, eyes wide as he watched the drinking contest.

Desert Wind and Solid Hoof had both passed out after about ten mugs each which, in Hell Blazer’s experience, was pretty impressive for a pony. To his surprise, however, Pinkie Pie, Bright Wonder, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were all still at it. Rainbow and Applejack were leaning across the table, staring at each other with narrow eyes and angry expressions as they continued emptying their mugs. They must have been at fifteen each. Pinkie and Wonder, both giggling like schoolgirls (or schoolfillies, Hell Blazer thought to himself) were at about twelve each.

“Best… best out of thirty seven,” Pinkie said. To everypony’s surprise, Bright Wonder had caught up with her starting with their fourth mugs and had continued to roundly beat her at every mug since that point. Pinkie hadn’t given up, and the two of them were now quite, quite drunk.

“Sure,” Wonder grinned, moving to get another mug. She slipped, faceplanted the table and slid off, landing on the floor with a soft “ow”. Laughing, Pinkie moved to help her up but fell over as well, and giggling, the two of them passed out.

Fluttershy, unnoticed by everypony at the table, quietly sipped her sixteenth mug, looking for all the world like she was drinking tea. Hell Blazer goggled at her.

“It’s nice,” she said quietly, smiling slightly.

***

Prince Blueblood, sat surrounded by Night Guards, frowned slightly as he looked at the almost black concoction that the Guards had set before him. He had decided to accompany the Night Guard into battle tomorrow, and in order to do so successfully, at least in his mind, he had to gain their respect.

Son, he remembered one of his father’s lessons (before the old colt had decided he hated his son’s guts), you must always endeavour to have the respect of the colts at your back.

One way of doing so, it seemed, was drinking an alcoholic drink the Night Guard's members had apparently brewed up themselves.

“What… what is it exactly?” he asked, staring at it dubiously.

“This here, sir?” one of the Guards, a Thestrals stallion named Sudden Shadow, said with a grin. “Luna’s own, sir - the Midnight Brew. Best drink in the whole of Equestria. Guaranteed to knock you on your shiny toff plot.”

Somewhere nearby, Blueblood spotted Dinky downing a mug of this stuff. She paused, gagging slightly, before falling over, clearly somewhat intoxicated. Gulping slightly, Blueblood eyed his own. Consigning his soul to Tartarus just in case, he took a deep swig of the drink. He swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the burning, bitter taste. All around him, he could hear the laughter of the Night Guards as they watched him drink. He looked up, the alcohol already going to his head in a rush of dizziness and nausea.

“Oh,” he said quietly. “I take it I’m 'one of the lads' now?”

And with that, he fell over, the laughter of his troops still ringing in his ears…

***

“#Howling ghosts - they reappear in,
Mountains that are stacked with fear,
But you’re a king and I’m a lionheart.
A lionheart…”

David Elliot sat on a chair far from the bulk of the party, unseen by anyone. He stared at his hand, concentrating as hard as he could on pushing past the final barriers in his mind, but try as he might it didn’t work - they remained up, something impossible to get past. It was like a wall that he couldn’t see but could feel. He cursed, and took a swig of beer.

“Fuck this noise,” he said. “I’m gonna go get some sleep.”

He stood up to go, only to find Lyra Heartstrings standing in front of him. He blinked.

“Hello, Lyra,” he said with a raised eyebrow. “Not enjoying the party?”

“It’s ok,” she replied. “I could ask you the same question.”

He chuckled. “There’s not really that much to enjoy when you’re going to die.”

She blinked at that, apparently shocked by his bluntness, and he sighed.

“Sorry,” he said. “That was… harsh.”

“No,” she said quietly, looking almost apologetic. “I guess… I guess it’s my fault for asking a stupid question. Of course you’re not alright.”

“Still shouldn’t be harsh,” Elliot said quietly. “I… I… yeah.”

He sat back down, indicating another chair for her to sit on. She moved to sit, sitting in the old ‘human’ style that Bon Bon had always found silly.

“You’re my friend,” he said quietly. “You… you aren’t her, but…”

“I know how much she must have meant to you,” Lyra said quietly. She pulled out a small diary. “I read her diary. It’s…”

“Don’t tell me,” Elliot chuckled. “She always said, ‘Avatar or not, I’ll scalp you if you read this thing’.”

Lyra smiled tightly. “Yeah… there’s some personal stuff in here.”

Elliot made a short noise of derision. “Knowing Lyra, probably a great essay on the Great Tengu followed by a comparative anatomy study on humans.”

Lyra laughed. “Sounds about right. But no, there’s… other stuff.”

She looked conflicted for a moment, as though she was wrestling with something. Sighing, Elliot held up a hand to forestall any words she might have had.

“Whatever she wrote, she would have told me anything she was going to,” he said quietly. “And now she’s gone… I guess I can’t imagine how weird it’s gotta be, reading your own diary, kinda, but…”

“But I should respect that she didn’t say anything,” Lyra finished quietly. “I… think I get that, but…”

“But it’s you,” Elliot said. “And… maybe you think you’d want somepony to tell people important things?”

“Yeah,” Lyra admitted. She sighed. “She… she thought highly of you.”

He smiled at that. “I thought highly of her, too.”

They sat in silence for a long time. There was nothing else really to say, now.

***

“Ah… will... beat… ya'll!”

“Like… hay!”

Twenty two mugs in each, Rainbow Dash and Applejack simply refused to quit. Hell Blazer was laughing, his own mug still half full - he liked heavy drinking, but he didn’t much feel like it after seeing these two at it all night. Applejack was so drunk that her accent had become stronger and stronger, to the point where nopony and nobody could understand half of what she said. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, seemed determined to keep going even though her eyes were starting to defocus to the point where they were almost reminiscent of Ditzy’s, except that Ditzy didn't tend to frown quite that much.

Fluttershy, meanwhile, was quietly sipping away at what must have been her twenty third mug. She seemed fine, although she had become a tad louder and didn’t seem to want to stand up.

“Pour me ‘nother!” Rainbow said, as she slammed her now empty mug down on the table. “I’mma drink this poser under the table if it b-buckin’ kills me!”

“Ah ain’t no poser, ya lousy flyin' varmint!” Applejack snapped. “Ah’ll drink ya’ll so far under the table ya’ll’ll end up on t’other side o’ the worl’!”

With that, she fell over, slamming her head into the table and landing flat on her back. A moment later, a snore started escaping from her lips.

“Ha!” Rainbow said, grinning. “See! I tol’ you I was…”

Before the assembled onlookers could find out what she was, Rainbow too passed out, hitting the soft ground with a slight thunk. A moment later, she too was snoring.

Fluttershy finished her twenty fourth mug with a contented sigh. She looked up at the table, noticing for the first time that all her opposition had apparently passed out.

“Oh,” she said quietly. “Did I win?”

***

June 6th. 2030.

The following morning, the army began assembling. Hangovers were handled with as much dignity as the ponies involved could muster, spells administered and mornings after dealt with as gracefully as possible.

Nonetheless: the army prepared itself. Today was the day that the battle would finally begin. At the Dawn, a number of soldiers could be seen bowing to the east: Muslims praying, looking towards the now long-gone Mecca. The sound of other prayers could be heard - chants and prayers and hymns. An entire army made peace with their gods. If one looked hard enough, one could see Buddhist monks, Hindus, Catholic priests blessing those who were about to go into battle, Rabbi’s wishing men and women good luck before they marched off. The representatives of an entire world that had been wronged were about to go into battle.

Off to one one side of the field, the Night Guard were assembling, their purple and black armour shining in the sunlight. A handful of banners were unfurled amongst the company, displaying the crescent moon symbol of Luna, mixed with the compass rose of Blueblood, the member of royalty to whom they now held their allegiance. They were a sombre lot: grim faced and dour, with serious eyes all focused forward, a far cry from the cheerful drinkers from the party last night. Not that the Night Guard had much to be cheerful about when they weren't drinking.

Of something like four hundred Night Guards present (and indeed of the four thousand Night Guard in the Equestrian resistance all told), there were only a handful who had been Night Guards at the time that Luna had died. The majority of them were new recruits, ponies of the three main races who had joined the Night Guard when Blueblood had reinstated the regiment upon his instatement as the head of the Government-in-exile. The scant handful of Thestrals - no more than forty or fifty in total - who had survived the slaughter of the original Night Guard were mostly part of the new incarnation, but there were those among them who had been so distraught that they had either gone into suicidal rages, or else joined the Dead Men.

There were two new recruits standing with the Night Guard contingent. Lyra Heartstrings stood with True Grit, both of them in fresh Night Guard armour. The two of them were stood next to Prince Blueblood, who was clad in his own ornate Night Guard armour, and all three were stood at the head of the column.

"This feels... surreal," Grit confided to Lyra quietly. "I never thought I'd wear Night Guard armour. I've been in the Royal Guard since I was nineteen. Wearing the purple and black instead of the gold is... weird."

"Think how I feel," Lyra replied with a wry grin. "I'm a musician and amateur cryptozoologist. The only time I thought I'd wear armour like this would be as a funky Nightmare Night costume."

True Grit grinned, but then the two of them snapped to attention as Blueblood stepped forward, apparently desiring to speak to the assembled Night Guards. He stood rigidly to attention, the very model of a noble Equestrian hero, his hooves clad in finest silver plate-armour sollerets, his helm crested in blue hair similar to his mane. He seemed none the worse for wear after his experience at the party.

"Night Guards!" he called, his voice grim and determined sounding. "Our time to return to our home has come!" He looked around the noble, heroic faces of the Night Guard... and drew a blank, seeing impassive,uninspired faces.

His father would have known what to say, but he, Blueblood, was not his father. He frowned, and then made a decision. He didn't have to be his father. These were real soldiers, and he was really their commander. Giving some horseapples inspiring speech wouldn't do anything. He had to be honest with them about the whole thing - and honest with himself as well.

"I'm going to be honest with you. I've something of a reputation for being a plotwipe," he said, dropping something of the pretension from his voice. Behind him, Lyra and True Grit exchanged frowns of confusion. "It's not entirely unjustified. I've been a layabout. I was on Solamina's council. I was arrogant. I was ignorant. I like to hope I've changed." He paused, looking along the lines of the Guard. "The Night Guard were the bravest ponies I think I ever saw: with no hope of victory, they stood up to Solamina herself. They fought against her: though they had no chance they fought anyway." He paused. "They showed me something that day, though I took a long time to learn that lesson. Though you don't think you have a chance... fight anyway."

There was a long pause as he looked amongst the ponies. They were definitely listening now - he could see it in their eyes.

"When I look at you," he continued, "I see again ponies who are the best of Equestria. The courage, honour, integrity and dignity of the Night Guard has never been better represented." He took a breath. "And seeing you here... it makes me think that maybe even a plotwipe like me can hope to make a difference today. It makes me feel like there's a chance for me to make a difference."

There were approving murmurs among the Guard and Blueblood felt a renewed determination. "You all know what we're doing here. We're going to Equestria. We're going to get our home back. We're going to cast down Solamina and her Empire. And we're going to kill any mother-loving pile of horseapples that gets in our way!"

There was a pause that lasted all of a minute, and then - to everypony's surprise - the Night Guard cheered, whooping and yelling in approval. Blueblood grinned.

"Look at me now Dad," he murmured to himself quietly. "Alright!" he added, raising his voice to speak to the assembled Guards. "Miss Heartstrings is going to open our portal for us and the rest of the forces. The Dead Men will be going first to secure the perimeter, and then the rest of us will be setting up in the fields near Ponyville until they've secured the town. You all know the plan. Let's move out!"

The Night Guard began marching. Lyra turned to Grit, who gave her a reassuring smile. She gulped and smiled back.

This was it.

***

The Interdiction lazily ascended into the air, propellers whirring slowly. The great Zeppelin had been weighed down with enough weapons to destroy a small country. Near the great warship, Grey Squadron were assembling. Vambrace-blades were checked and re-checked, shirts slipped on, goggles put on and HUDs checked.

Errant Flight triple-checked his weapons, and couldn’t help but grin as he saw Ditzy checking her own blades. Her being here made him feel a sense of Deja-Vu the likes of which he couldn’t quite remember having felt before. It reminded him too much of…

“It looks like a standard super-Zeppelin! We'll go for the traditional C4 approach - flight leaders will approach the Zeppelin with their C4 package, try to set it on the Zeppelin and then GTBO! Wingmen will provide cover, and set their own C4 if their flight leader gets downed or distracted. We clear, ponies?!”

That was it. This reminded him too much of Manchester. He couldn’t have said why - the feel in the air was different, far more hopeful - but it felt like an ending.

It will be an ending, he thought to himself with a vicious grin. The end of bucking Solamina and her Empire.

"Alright!" he called out, shaking his head clear of the memory. "Everypony, check your weapons! The air is a real bad place to find yourself short a weapon cos it came off!"

He smirked as Ditzy double checked her weapon. Next to her, Dream Flyer stood rigidly to attention, nodding. Errant could see White Blossom, Lily Picker, Bright Wonder, Pure Heart and Star Blitz all coming over to the assembly area and taking up their positions. Dark Wing was also stood to attention perhaps a bit straighter than he had before, having been bumped up to Grey Four and leader of Two flight following Rainbow’s decision to go with Elliot. Solid Hoof looked like death warmed up - most likely the result of his drinking game the night before - and he groaned whenever a loud noise (such as Bright Wonder’s voice) went off in his ear.

Two new ponies had joined, both recommended by Prince Blueblood and Air Commodore High Tide. One of them, to Errant’s surprise, was a dark grey coated, deep purple maned Thestral. His name was Fell Spear. He was a Flight Lieutenant in the ERAF, and prior to his joining Grey Squadron he was part of Upsilon Squadron, before being assigned to the Night Guard after Upsilon’s initial (somewhat disastrous) engagements - the same engagement in which Cloud Ranger was killed. He was altogether serious and duty-minded, which made his interactions with the rest of the group strained, but he respected his superiors, especially Errant.

The other pony was the replacement medic, a tan Pegasi mare with a brown mane with white highlights called Mellow Air. She was remarkably quiet for an ERAF flyer, but (though Errant was loath to admit it out of loyalty to his former Squadron-mate) she was also a slightly better combat flyer than Fluttershy.

“So,” Errant continued, looking around at the Squadron once he was certain he had everypony’s attention. “The first part of our mission is simple - the Interdiction, along with most Pegasi flight squadrons, will cover the air over Ponyville when we go through the portal. Once Ponyville is secure and the portal re-secured, we will be going in with the first aerial support units and covering the air over Canterlot.” he fixed them all with his sternest expression. “We can expect Royal Guard, Wonderbolts, and there’s even a possibility of running into the Empress herself, or possibly Princess Cadence.”

The members of the Squadron exchanged glances. While running into Cadence wasn’t necessarily a bad thing compared to Solamina, and the Princess had never been known to engage in battle herself, nopony wanted to go up against an Alicorn in the air.

“This will no doubt be the toughest mission Grey Squadron has ever flown,” Errant continued. “but I believe in every single one of you! Together, we can do this!”

“This is the Interdiction,” a voice came through the comms as he finished. “Final checks are complete. Begin preparation for departure.”

“You heard them!” Errant called, spreading his wings. “Let’s do this!”

He took off, the rest of the squadron behind him.

It was time.

***

“Miss Heartstrings,” Prince Blueblood said, standing next to Lyra as the assembled armies of the British Defence Force and the Equestrian Resistance waited behind the two of them. Lyra was studiously ignoring him, focusing on her intention.

According to Twilight, the intention of those behind her would only come into play once the portal had been opened itself - this was the tricky part. She had to really, really want to open the portal herself, and then that, in tandem with the desire on the part of those behind her for it to open, would open it.

I came here to meet humans, she thought to herself. I came here to save them. I will save them.

“Portus Maxima Liberatus!” she said softly.

A turquoise beam shot out of her horn, moving faster than thoughts towards a point in the air and exploding. Lyra’s eyes widened in shock but she kept her eyes open and her concentration going as the great, glassy portal sprang into existence.

A moment later, there it was. It must have been at least a hundred feet high in the air, and at least double that in width, and through it she could see the smog-filled, industrialised nightmare that had once been Ponyville .

“That’s it,” she whispered, more to herself than to anypony else, surprised she had managed it. “It’s done!”

“Maintenance!” Blueblood yelled. At once, specially trained Unicorns stepped up, horns blaring with light. These ponies were specially trained to maintain spells - they could manage for hours, and there were enough ponies there to relieve them once they finally tired.

A moment later, something like forty Dead Men jogged forward, entering through the portal as cleanly as if there were nothing at all there. The platoon formed a perimeter, before their leader held up a hand, signalling the all clear.

And then Blueblood yelled the words that Lyra had come to at once dread and anticipate.

“Everypony! Charge!”

***

"There's a great quote that a man said once before a battle like this," David Elliot said, rolling his shoulders. "We're about to embark upon a great crusade towards which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon..."

"Don't bloody quote Eisenhower you prat," Hell Blazer said with a grimace. "I'm not in the mood for speeches."

The small group stood ready. The Knights of Albion were each drinking from a small flask. Twilight was whistling softly, looking altogether nervous. The rest of their group were also readying themselves: Rainbow and Fluttershy had double checked their wrist-blades, and Desert Wind, Springfield as his steadier, was ready with his P220.

“We all ready?” Elliot asked the group.

A chorus of affirmatives reached his ears, and he grinned. He closed his eyes, extended his hand, and Excalibur materialised.

“You won’t be sheathed until this battle is done,” he promised it. He rested the mighty Zweihander against his shoulder, feeling the reassuring - if light - weight of the blade and steadying his nerves as best he could.

“Sir!” a voice called, and Elliot looked up to see a human runner jogging towards his team. “The Ponyville portal is up - we’re on!”

“Twilight!” Elliot said quickly. At once, Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated, her horn glowing a soft shade of purple.

“Portus Maxima Liberatus!” she yelled. A moment later, a glassy portal came into being, and through it they could see a white-tiled corridor. Elliot grinned, and turned to the group.

“Ladies and gentlecolts,” he said. "We're in business."

And then he charged...

***