As the chariot lands outside Canterlot, Celestia and Lucretia are already there to greet us. I hop out and start jogging over to them. Celestia's ears go down and she shakes her head at me. Luna wasn't back yet. I clench my hands angrily, but keep a lid on it. Lucretia has her arms crossed casually and walks up to me.

"We tried everything. It has to either be a species trait or the fact that we're not...from here. Speaking of which, apparently we're on a completely different planet. I drew a map for Celestia and looked over her's; we can't find anything that matches up. From what we can tell, we have an identical solar system, but considering Taraska doesn't have anything detailed on planets, I couldn't provide much." Lucretia looks over my right shoulder as Emeris walks up, holding a jar of lightning with a massive grin on his face.

"Got a present for you Lucy!" He calls out eagerly. Lucretia's jaw drops as she points at the jar.

"What the hell is that?!" Emeris carelessly drops the large jar on the ground. Everyone but Lucretia flinches when he does it. He taps the jar once with his foot. I cover my face momentarily out of reflex. Lucretia gawks at me before looking back at Emeris.

"Um...I get the feeling you should be more careful with that thing?" She says condescendingly. Emeris puts his hands on his hips.

"This baby is literally lightening in a jar!" He gives Lucretia a big nod. Lucretia's left eye twitches madly.

"H...how?!"

Emeris looks back at the Wonderbolts who came with us.

"Apparently Cloudsdale has a wonderful little arsenal for us. I figured you'd wanna see it." Lucretia walks over with complete shock on her face. She bends over and picks up the jar in her hands. It was more of a lantern than anything, with a dark gray casing. The exterior was smooth and shiny, most likely made of clay. The entire design was elegant and unique. Whoever made it had put a lot of effort into it. I highly doubted they were intended to be destroyed. The only thing that made it different from a normal lantern was the large metal rod at the top that had a teal hint to it. Maybe it wasn't even metal after all.

Lucretia's head snaps back to Celestia.

"We have to try this now!" Celestia nods but quickly chuckles when she hears my quiet groan.

"Don't worry Raiden, you don't have to get back in my chariot." I let out a sigh of relief. Before we can protest, Emeris and I are swept up with yellow magic. Lucretia calmly climbs on Celestia's back and hugs her long neck. Lucretia closes her eyes briefly, as if slipping into a different world. Celestia nuzzles her for a moment before we all take off. Lucretia knew better than to get attached, but it was her call.

We sail through the air, accompanied by Emeris once again calling out with excitement. The chariot was preferable at this point since I at least had something solid to hold onto. We spot a few Og Nag who are dragging a dead deer through the forest for lunch. Not only were they attacking innocent ponies, but they were also wiping out local wildlife. Was anything safe?

Celestia immediately dives towards them. Lucretia seems to be relatively okay with flying. She holds the jar in her right arm, with her left around Celestia. We say nothing, despite every part of me wanting to call out as my guts want to jump out my throat. I recoil a bit as the ground rises up faster and faster with every second. The pair of Og Nag have enough time to look up as Lucretia hurls the jar at them. It strikes the ground five feet away and fries an Og Nag. A nearby tree explodes from within and falls over defeated as orange light and smoke pours out from its center. The other Og Nag lets go of the deer and runs.

We fly back into the air towards Canterlot. Lucretia has an extremely annoyed look on her face.

"That barely did anything. Yeah it killed an Og Nag but that kind of precision is going to be impossible!" She crosses her arms and pouts. Celestia looks over her shoulder. She tilts forward just enough for Lucretia to cry out and fling her arms around Celestia's neck. Celestia grins with amusement.

"I think I have an idea. There's a spell I want to try combining with it. It's magic I use to locate either missing animals or detecting nearby lifeforms. I'm rather positive that with some tweaking, I can make the lightning do likewise. It will also help minimize environmental damage. I plan on keeping my kingdom after the war is over." Lucretia watches her for a second. She nods then leans in to give her another hug. I can't help but glare under my helmet. We were at war. There was no logic in forming unnecessary bonds. The last thing I needed was one of my captains getting emotionally destroyed if we needed to replace Equestrian leadership should the worst case scenario happen.

Emeris calls out to me just loud enough to grab my attention.

"Just let her be. We gotta take what we can get, ya know?" He says with an admiring stare at the two.

I can't help but feel a chill come over as the Wonderbolts meet us half way. A teal colt with a cobalt blue mane flies up to me and stops.

"Captain Raiden! We spotted a group of a few hundred Og Nag just to the east of here! They're moving fast! They must have something in mind!" I look over at Emeris who gives me a defeated nod. We were both enjoying the moment and once again it was ruined by this condemning war. We land at the chariot and Celestia takes her position. I look over at three other chariots that are all full of lighting jars. I lock eyes with the colt.
"What is all this?" I ask with a hint of fascination. The colt tries to hide his smile.
"When we heard about the group, we figured you might want to hit them so we gathered a few loads of jars just in case." I chuckle loudly.
"Good thinking mister...um..." He takes a few steps forward and salutes.
"Soarin sir!" I give him a respectful nod. I have to shut my eyes as a massive bright light erupts from my right at the chariots. I look over and see Celestia out of breath again.
"I...I think that should do it...but there's no time...to test them..." I look around at the six Wonderbolts and put my hands behind my back. They immediately gallop forward and stop in a line.
"We don't have time to make this official, so I'll be brief. Spitfire, how quickly can you get squads together?" Spitfire steps forward, still looking ahead.
"Each pony here has a squad of four under them. This is Fleetfoot, Soarin, Blaze, Surprise and Highwinds. Each one battle tested and ready to go sir!" Each pony nods as their name is called. I grind my teeth a bit, knowing they're all too soft. I doubt they've even seen death before.
"I have to be clear on something you're not gonna like. When it comes to your squads, you need to be the one to survive. We don't have the time or luxury to replace you. Fleetfoot recoils a bit.
"Um sir, we're Wonderbolts! We don't leave each other behind!" The rest of the group mumble in agreement. I march up to her and she trembles a bit but does her best to stand firm. She brushes part of her silver mane to cover her right eye. I tower over her silently and she can't help but divert her gaze to the ground. Spitfire shuffles in place. I take in a slow breath, not taking my eyes off the trembling mare.
"Quiz time. Your team member goes down. You swoop in and try to help her up. Then bam! You take a sword through your spin and it comes out your chest. You die instantly...or even slowly, who knows but you don't survive. Now I have to find the next Wonderbolt to take over what remains of your horrified squad. Who's next in line?" My voice is deep and loud, as if every word is a command. She digs at the ground.
"L...Lightening Streak I think." I lean over so I'm a foot away from her face.
"What do you mean you think?! You don't get to think! You have to know! So now your squad is terrified because they just lost two comrades, including their superior officer! Since this Lightening Streak is next in line, I'm assuming it's accurate to say he's not as experienced?! So now a less experienced pony is taking his first command of a petrified group of fliers that now have to deal with two deaths all because you couldn't make the right call! You're a Wonderbolt! You're suppose to be smart! So tell me little miss mare genius, which is the better option? Try in vain to save your squadmate, knowing the consequences, or making sure the rest of your squad isn't left high and dry?!" Her mouth moves a few times as she tries to think of what to say.
"I get not leaving anyone behind, but you have to be smart about it. Putting your life on the line when you know it's futile because you can't stand to do nothing, is both stupid and reckless. You're risking a lot more than just your squadmate. You can ruin an entire squad just from some foolish notion that you're obligated to die! You need to survive at all costs! I do not have the ability to replace you! You get me?!"
They're all quiet, but I can tell they understand. When I first took command, we all had the mentality to never leave anyone behind. I lost seven soldiers trying to save one person. I told myself I did the right thing, but after a while it ate at me. Yeah I never want to leave anyone behind, and I'll do anything I can to save them. But I slowly realized that bravery and stupidity often go hand in hand.

Lucretia stands next to the jars, eyeing them curiously. She sets her helmet on the ground and the breeze catches her hair. Her eyes widen with bewilderment. She touches the glass and the glowing mass of energy that floats carelessly inside, arcs where her finger is. She gasps a bit in shock but keeps watching it. The normally white lightening now has a teal glow to it. She sets down the jar then turns around and faces me while putting her helmet back on.

"If everything is in order, we need to get moving." She says with this quiet, mystified tone.

Seething with rage, the pegasi making up Rogue One was rather quiet. Emeris turns to me, his boots clanking on the floor of the chariot.
“What do you think is up with them? You’d think they’d love their first bombing run on the Og Nag.”

I nod while looking over Rogue One.
“Looks more like military-based focus to me. They don’t want to screw this up.” I watch the ground, waiting for our target to come into view. Spitfire had trained the Wonderbolts extensively with aerial maneuvers and general strategy, although she left the orders up to me. Tracking a group of a few hundred Og Nag and performing our first offensive hit; things were looking up for once, but I knew better than to get my hopes up.

The Wonderbolts sail through the air, not one inch out of line, no side conversations, no drifting eyes. They lived up to their reputation. Emeris and I waited eagerly, eyes peeled, just wanting a single glimpse of our target. For now, they would have literally no offensive ability against our air units, having only primitive bow and arrows for range. While they could possibly learn to spread out to minimize casualties, our infantry would make short work of them. If they form up into a group, they’ll get lightning bombed; it was an almost guaranteed win no matter what.

I tap my hand nervously on the side of Celestia’s chariot. We still had no word from Luna, and concentrating was becoming increasingly strenuous. Had she been hurt or killed? What if she found an even worse threat and was dealing with it? I’d give anything just to have some information on her.

The scouts we sent never came back, and after this bombing run we were going to find her one way or the other. The chariot carried a decent complement of bombs. We had made a large attachment to it for hauling. Celestia stayed behind to enchant more bombs for us. The goal was to test one or two, and record their effects for future warfare. Their average arc range, amount of life forms affected, mortality rate; it was all absolutely vital. We were going to save the rest for a rainy day.

I kick the chariot a bit, wanting to go straight for Luna, but we needed to take out this group in case they went for other towns or refugees. It was also crucial for morale, as numerous defeats and casualties were fresh on the minds of our soldiers. Spitfire flies up to us and motions to the far right with her head. Emeris and I peer over and see a large amount of birds scatter from trees in the distance. Our entire battlegroup readjusts, now hot on their trail.

Our initial reports indicated a group to the southeast, going for Dodge City. Oddly enough, they were reported as falling back as soon as we left Canterlot. We had spent the last hour trying to regain a visual. This group was small, only a few hundred. Emeris and I still found their size suspicious, since Og Nag love to group in massive numbers. It was theorized that their limited intellect made them more susceptible to group mentality.

They ran through the forest at top speed, showing that unusual behavior all over again. There were no targets ahead of them, just vast forests and eventually the sea. While it was suspicious, we had no other visuals on any other Og Nag. Emeris and I had discussed this extensively. We knew in our guts something was off, but we didn’t have time to ponder. We needed to know the full applications of our newest weapon. We were confident we could adjust to whatever trick they were going to pull, so the call was made.

The Og Nag weren’t terrified or worried at all. They were just mindlessly running through the forest. Something was way off. Emeris and I exchanged confused glances. Regardless, I give Spitfire the go ahead. She nods, flies up to her first group and gives them commands. They dive to the left, heading towards the largest cluster of units.

“Take us down, I want to stay on the Wonderbolts as much as possible!” I call to the guards pulling us.

I lean forward as my eyes bulge, wanting to see if all our efforts were in vain or not. The Wonderbolts pull ahead of the group on the ground, having to make sure their bombs hit perfectly. Each Wonderbolt had a bomb chained to their chest. They began unhooking the chains, now carrying the bombs in their forelegs. We pull alongside the group, watching them carefully. Spitfire glances at the ground every second, waiting for just the right lead on her targets. We had let them practice dropping rocks on our infantry who were on a patrol, until their aim was spot on.

She counts down to her group. In one glorious second, three bombs drop. They fall to the ground, with everypony waiting eagerly. The first jar explodes, with the lightning arcing out like a demonic whip. It strikes a small Og Nag. Its body convulses, eyes glowing blue as smoke comes off its body. It falls to the ground, rolling with the momentum it still carried. Its body kicks up a trail of dust as it rolls, crunching over various twigs and bushes. The very second the creature was hit, the lightning arcs to twelve others, all with similar effects. Death was instantaneous. Cheers and proud, angry yelling bellows from every unit, even myself. The wondrous crash of units to the forest floor was just extra frosting.

The Wonderbolts bank right and fly back to Emeris and me. They cheer, high-hoofing each other. Emeris and I bump shoulders, happy we can finally strike back. Spitfire looks back at our massive payload.

“Captain Raiden, do you think we can deliver just a few more?” Emeris looks over our cargo and shrugs.

“Raiden, I gotta be honest, this is the most fun we’ve had in a while…”

I think it over, the stories the Wonderbolts will spread from this attack will do wonders. Besides, we had tons of bombs. Also there were three other flyer groups, each needing and deserving their own shots at vengeance. The Og Nag come to a halt in a massive clearing of trees, just standing there. I sigh, pretending to think over what I already knew I was going to do.

I look at Spitfire.

“Okay, tell the other three Rogue groups to dive bomb the large gathering. Do it from a bit higher up though, no need to take risks.” Spitfire closes her eyes and tilts her head back with mad laughter. She falls back to the other three flyer groups trailing behind us, each with their own bombs. I hear a chorus of cheers as they rocket ahead of us. They climb high, with massive grins on their face. Spitfire flies next to us, wanting a good view of the carnage soon to come.

I casually lean on the edge of the chariot, waiting for the climax. Emeris grabs my arm and shakes me frantically. I look at him confused. He points at the clearing, eyes full of fear. The Og Nag stand there, motionless. No fear, no tactics, just standing there. I slowly shake my head, what could they possibly be doing? My mouth hangs open as I see their strategy. I lean over the chariot and scream.

“Princess Luna!” She lies in the middle of the Og Nag unconscious, with numerous injuries. I turn around, Spitfire is already flying to the group as fast as she can. Emeris slams his fists on the edge of the chariot repeatedly. “No no no no no!”

Spitfire gets to the group just a second too late, they release their bombs. Spitfire screams at them, inaudible from where Emeris and I are. All three squadrons race to grab their payloads, unsure if they’ll go off once being caught. We had done exactly three drills of bomb catching just in case, and they didn’t go well.

The squads head straight down, gaining speed. I had no idea if they’d pull up fast enough. I bang my hands over and over.

“Come on! Go go go!” The first squad cautiously gets their hooves on a few of the bombs, with the other squads not far behind. Emeris lets out a sigh of relief.

“Hehe, good thing we ran all those-” My face reflects horror, as I watch the Og Nag, knowing their plan all along. They all grin at the same time. A Garge hurls an ax at the squads. Spitfire sees it coming and does her best to dodge. The ax collides with a pegasus on her right. Spitfire gawks in horror as her friend explodes in a bundle of feather and blood then plummits to the ground. A brutal scream echoes out when she takes the full hit. The lighting bomb erupts, frying her and the others around her. Spitfire takes a lesser hit from the lightening and manages to stay airborn. Four dead pegasi fall lifelessly through the air, trails of smoke drift from their corpses. Spitfire nurses her left shoulder and watches them with a blank look. The other bombs are still falling.

Squad Two grabs their bombs, but dive to the sides, trying to avoid future projectiles. Twopegasi go left and the other two go right with their commander issuing orders from twenty feet above. Numerous Og Nag fire arrows at them, seeing as how they were suddenly in range. The pair who went left explode as a few lucky arrows hit their bombs. After the lightning claims their lives, they slam into the ground sending up clouds of dirt and smoke.

The two who went right split up. One of them throws their bomb away, but the other isn’t so lucky, taking an arrow in the wing.

He falls with his bomb. His wingmate grabs the bomb from him and is able to barely toss it clear. He holds onto his wounded comrade but they’re too close. They slam into the ground and roll several times. He’s barely able to move but starts crawling over to see if his squadmate is even still alive. Judging from the way his head was twisted behind his body, he wasn’t. Before he even makes it over to his friend, the shriek of Og Nag come from all sides. His eyes grow angry and he makes a run for it. He builds up just enough speed, getting a few inches in the air before a mouth clamps onto his rear hoof.

He lets out a brutal scream, unable to take the weight. He lands and kicks off the Og Nag with his free hindleg. He hits another coming in from his left, before he’s tackled to the ground. An Og Nag clamps onto his right wing. It thrashes its mouth back and forth, eventually pulling the wing completely free of the Pegasus. He lets out a shriek of torment, before his cries turn to gargling, as another mouth clamps on his throat. We watch him helplessly as his legs kick less and less. In his last moment, he gives one final hoof salute before going limp.

Spitfire lshakes in place, her eyes are so wide that her face starts twitching. She watches Fleetfoot flap mindlessly in the air as her squad was also just annihilated. Two units down, still with bombs falling from the remaining groups. Both squads had grabbed their payloads, soaring past the rest of the falling debris. The third squad has a different, but honorable tactic. My stomach flips upside down as they pull off their last maneuver.

Three of them, with tears in their eyes, pull away. They’re too far behind at this point to grab the bombs and also sail away unharmed. The fourth hits top speed, and catches up to the bombs. Soarin shakes his head from above as he screams at them. His fifth member nudges the bombs together as quickly as possible while they fall. With eyes closed, she hits a bomb with her hoof, detonating it along with the other explosives. She stops them from detonating on the princess, or risking her squadmates; her last effort as a soldier. Blaze's squad is able to toss the bombs clear and avoid any casualties, thanks to Soarin's squad taking all the attention. I can imagine Blaze having survivor's guilt after this.

Emeris falls to the bottom of our chariot, grabbing the sides of his arms, sitting quietly with defeat. The Og Nag let out a coordinated chuckle, and chant.

“King of the Dead! King of the Dead!”

I scream at the top of my lungs, in both pain and hatred. The Og Nag slowly walk away. One last Garge picks up Luna, examines her body, and hurls her with all his might at the chariot. Before the last nine of the Wonderbolts can snap out of their shock, Luna’s body collides with the vehicle, almost sending Emeris and me over. I catch her body before it can fall past us. I hold her, fearing the worst. She’s still warm, but barely. Her eye opens just enough to look at me, as she lies in my arms. She reaches up with a hoof and touches my helmet.

“I’m...I..I’m sorry…” she collapses again.

Spitfire lands in the somewhat crowded chariot. She stares at me, her eyes wide but it’s as if she looks right through me. She can’t make a single sound, as her throat pulses desperately to say something. She points a hoof towards the Og Nag, still keeping her eyes vaguely pointed at me. All she can do is lose her lunch all over the floor and sit on her haunches. We all look at each other but say nothing.

The ride back is accompanied by quiet sobbing.