Twilight’s eyes watered as the brilliant light suffused the area, clops and surprised cries echoing out from the light. Letting her horn test the magic, Twilight tensed; she knew that spell, a mass teleport. But there were few who could perform such a powerful spell, and all those she knew could do it were in the area with her. Unless the Caribou had mastered the technique, which was… dubious. Quickly casting a sunshade spell around her eyes, Twilight glared into the light… and froze.

Celestia was smaller than Twilight remembered, standing several feet shorter than Twilight did now, and missing her shining regalia. Her mane was “normal” now, a simple mane of long, Pinkie-Pie pink hair. She stood as regally as she could, body crossed protectively in front of a large crowd of ponies. Led by Luna, shorter even than Celestia and holding a rough-hewn spear in her telekinetic grip, the crowd numbered into the hundreds, most of them weak, small, and starved. While some were gazing at Celestia in awe, many more were staring at the scene before them in utter shock.

“Twilight Sparkle…”

Never had Twilight imagined Celestia sounding as tired and shaken as she did then, her voice quavering with emotion as she stared at her former student. Twilight wanted to feel the awe she remembered from her youth, striving to be all that Celestia embodied in ponydom. To her horror, Twilight felt more pity than anything.

“Princess,” Twilight replied softly, “It… it’s g-good to see you again.”

Celestia’s eyes flicked over Twilight’s shoulders, hardening as she watched Trixie pin the struggling Cadence to the cobblestone street.

“Please explain what I am seeing, Twilight,” she asked faintly, “Because I am not sure I trust my eyes.”

“PRINCESS CELESTIA!”

Twilight bared her teeth as she heard the hated voice, glaring daggers at Purity as she darted towards the crowd; a pentagram flew from her horn to the ground, and jagged spikes ripped up in front of the unicorn, effectively separating her from the two. Purity whinnied faintly, rising up to press her hooves against the black stone.

“You have to stop her, Princess! She’s destroyed Equestria! She used necromancy, she’s leading an army of the undead to kill Cadence and take the Crystal Heart, she-”

“Enough!” Celestia snapped, eyes returning to an angrily trembling Twilight, “I would have my student explain. And take that robe off, Purity, of House Sunbeam. You dishonor that institution.”

“W-what?” Cadence breathed, lucidity momentarily returning to her expression at Celestia’s voice.

Trixie released her hold, somewhat, on Cadence’s head, allowing her to turn and stare at a stunned Purity.

“Y-you said… you were the C-canterlot High Priestess. Who… who are…”

“Purity Sunbeam works for the Office of Bloodline Purity,” Twilight answered coldly, tail snapping slightly in her agitation, “She has never served the Celestial Church. Hay, I doubt she’s been to a service in years.”

“I-I… Princess…”

“Take it off, Purity.”

Hunching down in shock, Purity’s horn lit up, slowly removing the precious garment from her withers and tossing it onto the street. Nodding once, Celestia folded in her wings, giving Twilight the sternest look she could muster as she trotted in front of her.

“Now... Explain.”

“Glady, Princess.”
*********************

“Incoming!”

As ponies garbed in the grey uniforms of the Pegasi Ground Corps dropped to the blood-slicked ground in a frenzy, Dinky Do raced to the front of the unit, a glimmering silver shield snapping into place. The three cannonballs, large caliber monsters from the Caribou siege guns, bounced off with a piercing ding, sounding all the world like giant bells. Dinky merely grit her teeth in concentration, inwardly wincing at the drop of her mana reserves. This commander was shockingly competent.

The berserkers had torn through hundreds of recruits around the train station, giving the advancing Equestrian army an excellent position to push to and fortify. The station, now a maze of trenches and gun emplacements, blazed with a near constant din of artillery and machine gun fire, tracer rounds arcing over the heads of the pony defenders as they slammed into the larger mass of Caribou. When the two forces had linked up, the Caribou commander, instead of charging straight into the onslaught, had pulled his surviving troops back to consolidate around his largest siege cannons. One of the Cloud Cruisers had attempted to fire upon the guns, but had to fall back mere minutes later, large portions of its hull blasted in and two fans out of action. With the constant fire coming from the Caribou lines, Dinky dared not order a full charge, even with her berserkers. Resurrectable or not, getting blasted apart by cannonfire was incredibly painful, and tore gaps in their lines that the Caribou could take advantage of. It was time to introduce the Caribou to the true might of Equestria: its airpower.

Drawing on a simple spell Sparkler had taught her as a child, Dinky jerked her heads skywards, sending a blazing ball up above the clouds of smoke and gunpowder. She couldn’t help but smile as the fireworks blew apart in a cacophony of sound and color, nostalgia whistling through her mind.

“I’ll be home soon, Sparks, Mama…”
*********************

“That’s the signal!” Rainbow Dash cried out eagerly, wings flaring out, “Let her rip, boys!”

The siren was eerie; a loud, warbling wail that sounded all the world like a banshee from myth. As a thousand pegasi leaped from the deck of the Sky Carrier Perseus, they carried the sirens on their backs, the wail growing louder and louder the faster they dived. Armored, engined planes would have taken far too long to produce it sizable quantities for the army, so pegasi engineers had decided on a new tactic. Packing raw rainbow, gunpowder, and an elemental charge together in a ceramic ball, the Pegasi Bombs were very light, allowing them to be attached to “bomber saddles” around the barrel of each pegasi. It was a little ungainly at first, but they were only meant for one dive. Once the bombs were released, the wings would break away, allowing the pegasi to dogfight and land as needed.

“FOR EQUESTRIA!”

Rainbow howled as loudly as she could as she dived towards the Caribou lines, mouth stretched back in an excited snarl. She was sure it had to be a hellish sound around her, every pegasus giving their own war cry, combined with the demon-like wail, but she could hear none of it. To protect their sensitive ears, battle mages had weaved enchantments on their helmets to only allow messages to go through as needed, unless the wearer turned it off herself. Rainbow was fairly glad of that, considering how loud the machine gun on her back had to be as she squeezed the bit-trigger. As her head bumped into the barrel, she was vaguely glad that Applejack had suggested the guns be longer than their bodies, just by a few inches. It’d suck to blow one’s own head off.

Blue streaked around her, and pride soared through Rainbow’s heart, like a warm tide. All around flew her brothers and sisters; her Wonderbolts, her lover, her friends. This was a day long in the making; the true revenge of the Wonderbolts against their murderers.

“First flight, release in three… two… one… RELEASE!”

Rainbow flared her wings with a body-felt grunt; the locks disengaged with a crack, dropping the eight ceramic balls down among the pounding and roaring Caribou cannons. As Rainbow Dash pulled up, she spotted an artillery commander staring back at her in utter shock… just as a lightning ball hit him full in the face. The pegasus had to turn her eyes from the light show, biting down on the bit-trigger as she deftly navigated the gun emplacements. Behind her, her sensitive wings could feel the different sensations and concussion effects in the air. Ice bombs were freezing Caribou in their place, or trapping cannon in icey vices. A follow up fire or fragmentation bomb would slam among them seconds later, the super-chilled figures shattering in spectacular explosions that tended to take out more of their fellows than the actual bombs. All around her, the Caribou position was utterly falling apart.

Oily magic suddenly stabbed up from the ground, slicing across Rainbow’s side; while it hurt, it was by no means the crippling wound it once would have been, and she glared hatefully down at the offending Caribou. He stood heads and shoulders above the Caribou around him, dressed in brilliant red barding. As Rainbow watched, he levelled a long rifle, tracking Rainbow as she flew; but she had seen him now. Even as the hammer on the percussion capped rifle twitched, Rainbow was twisting in the air, and the heavy caliber bullet slashed through empty air.

“I think I’ve found the commander!” Rainbow roared into her helmet, knowing it would be carried by the “order” spell.

“We see him!” Fleetfoot called back.

“All Wonderbolts! CHARGE!”

Heart soaring at the firmness of Spitfire’s order, Rainbow spiraled higher into the sky, making her trajectory was correct before giving a firm flap, launching her slim body full speed at the Caribou commander. Bullets from other Wonderbolts were already flying, and Rainbow couldn’t help but be impressed as the Caribou’s magic rolled out in a protective shield, machine gun bullets throwing up a hail of sparks as they struck it. Their eyes focused on each other, the Caribou let loose with a snarl of his own, daring Rainbow as he levitated an axe into his mouth. Rainbow gave a faint smirk.

“Hold your fire, guys! I’ve got him.”

“Are you sure, Dash?” Spitfire’s voice was worried, but Rainbow Dash merely widened her smirk.

“I’m sure.”

With a kick of her hind legs, the battle saddle fell free, and Rainbow tucked her wings tightly, eyes narrowing as she focused on her opponent. She could practically feel his excitement; to the Caribou’s eyes, this pony was challenging without a weapon. And in close quarters combat, that would have been a death sentence. If his opponent had been any pony other than Rainbow “Danger” Dash. One flap launched her body faster, and she could practically feel the barriers of her world stretching around her nose. Rainbow grinned faintly, tilting her body just… a little… The Caribou moved to the side with a roar, sweeping his axe across to meet Rainbow’s face as she passed. And just as Rainbow broke the sound barrier, she stuck her left hoof out stiffly.
******************

Still a mile away, but close enough to hear the ferocious din around the Crystal Empire’s shield, Fjorn Steelhoof paced angrily at the stern of the lead airship. This was all so very, very wrong. His capital was… gone. Everything he had fought for, all the treasures he had won for his people, all the slaves… they were all gone in an instant. None of the other cities could match the capability of the capital. The ports could not make the new ironclads without iron and coal, and the capital had been the source of all of their airship designs and materials. The villages could produce the food the nation needed, but where would they find enough transportation to get it all throughout the Nation? Even if they won this war with these renegade ponies that Felgam swore were the true threat, would they have the ability to stop the Griffin Empire from pushing them back? Or, an even worse thought, pushing in.

For the second time in his career, Fjolnir felt the deep, abiding fear of losing his war. He turned his eyes towards the dark clouds around the Empire, drawing himself up with as much pride as he could muster, so the other crewbucks could not see him flagging. He would have to see to his son once the battle was over, and marshal all those remaining. With his help, perhaps they could undo the damage the pony sisters had done. And so deep was his thoughts, Fjolnir never noticed the spiraling brown blur headed for his ship.

Hours later, when a young private rushed out to prepare the battle deck for the fight, he was horrified to find the Grand Marshal of the Caribou Nation dead, pinned to a firing position, eyes staring down in dull shock at the severed head of his son, antlers piercing his heart.

Author's Notes:

I THINK I'm getting better at my battle scenes.