Act Two
Chapter Ten
Spears of the Night

With Shining Armor missing, it's up to me to lead the Peace Fighters. No problem, really, I'm fit to lead. It's just been hard without the Captain. We all rely on him for inspiration, for courage. Now it's just me to lead these brave mares and stallions. It's been two months since Shining went missing, and today is the official two-year anniversary of the Mid-Morning War, the event that caused the Peace Fighters to form, and what caused this war.

Can I do it? Can I really lead ALL of these ponies? Can I truly be the pony they need me to be? I'm not like Shining; I'm not strong, nor swift, nor even as brave as he is.

But there is one thing I do have that he doesn't...

Luck.

"The Princesses are moving, Lieutenant. They're moving fast, too. I believe their army was not expecting the Canines to come back at them with such aggressiveness" Private Gleaming Bullet said to Strong Spear in the Mother Base command room, who nodded in agreement. The two months without Shining Armor had been dark and dreary, and it seemed the days had been cloudier and the nights darker.

"Yeah, well I guess they have us to thank for that. Course, it was their own attitude towards the Canines that caused them come back against them" Lieutenant Spear stated.

"Princesses wouldn't have had to invade them had the Canines hadn't been so stubborn and just accepted a deal for their oil" Private Bullet commented, earning the attention of the Lieutenant.

"Are you suggesting you would've preferred the Canines be helping the Princesses, Private?"

"N-no, that's not what I meant. All I'm saying is that they could've avoided involvement in this whole mess had they just relented" the Private answered.

"I suppose you'd say the same for us. For Shining" Strong Spear declared. Gleaming frowned angrily but said nothing more after that.

Turning her attention from the Stallion Strong Spear tilted her head in the direction of the command board and investigated the lines displayed thereon. The Princesses ruled most of the land and territories controlled by them were marked with red. If the Lieutenant investigated for any length of time she'd see the red as a sort of disease spreading throughout all the planet.

And the only antidote were the Peace Fighters.

"To the both of you your directives are simple; kill the leader of the Peace Fighters, Lieutenant Strong Spear, and break the will of their army. The Imperial Army can handle the Canines. Major Nightshade, your service record with the Empire is exemplary, and as such you are personally tasked with eliminating Lieutenant Spear. I know your specialty lies within the skies but we need both of you for this mission. Nightshade, the information we are about to impart upon the other operative is extremely classified; leave this room immediately" Princess Celestia said to the violet Pegasus mare standing before her in the throne room.

Major Nightshade was one of the most highly decorated individuals in the Imperial Aerial Army, having served through several conflicts such as the Mid-Morning War, the Minotaur War, and even the First Contact War of the Spider People of the Northern Isles. Her natural abilities as a Pegasus and unmatched tenacity made her a perfect candidate for the mission.

Nightshade complied immediately and left, leaving just the Princess and the other operative.

"As for you; I have raised you since you were a child. I have taught you techniques, gave you weapons, endowed you with knowledge. You are the only one within the Empire that knows the truth as it pertains to who my sister and I truly are and what we plan on doing. You are tasked with assisting Nightshade in killing Lieutenant Strong Spear, and I know you will do the best out of anyone that can do this. If you succeed I will let you join us when we make our final move. Being the only being that can live as long as us you are truly a God as we are. Are these orders understood, RED DRAGON?" Celestia asked the operative.

"Mission parameters and orders are understood, Holy Goddess of the Sun. I give my life, not for honor nor personal gains but for you and the Empire. Lieutenant Strong Spear, ID code SS-1160-2280 is to be eliminated immediately through any and all means available to me" the operative responded, standing firmly at attention. His four-foot tall body encased entirely in one of the combat suits originally issued to ELEMENT GEAR, though this one was the new Mk. 2 model built only for dragons. Red Dragon was the most capable assassin in the Empire, and has accomplished over nine missions successfully without being detected once. His suit, Solar Sword Mk. 2 was almost unchanged from Mk. 1 except for increased mobility and agility for the operator. Red Dragon was lethal, fast, and incredibly agile, all thanks to his size and dragon physiology. His suit was a midnight black and the two slanted visors over his his eyes on his full-head helmet were a lethal red, contrasting with the stark black of the suit.

"Very good, Red Dragon. You are dismissed" Celestia told him.

Red Dragon perused the delectable selection of the Canterlot Armory, looking through the weapons that would be suitable for his mission of assassinating Lieutenant Strong Spear of the Peace Fighters. Long range would be most satisfactory for eliminating the target, preferably of a high caliber to breach any armor she might be wearing at the time, but with low enough velocity to not over-penetrate her body and do significant internal damage.

There was a new weapon on the wall; a sniper rifle if the barrel length was any indication. The weapon's specs were below it on the wall, along with its model.

Solar-Pulse Engagement Weapon for Ranges: Long model number 400. Heavy Caliber(14.5x114mm, gauged at .57 caliber). Round was tested on feral dragons, manticores, and even the secret creature of the Everfree Forest; the Leviathan of the Haro. Round easily penetrated both sides of each selected target. The dragon and manticore were killed, while the Leviathan lived(understandable, given its nature and where it came from). Magazine size is seven, and operating mode is semi-automatic with a short-stroke gas-return piston system.

"Much too high of a caliber" Red Dragon mused, knowing that it even damaged the Leviathan then it would completely pass right through the target with almost negligible damage. The dragon selected the weapon and swapped the barrel and chamber for a lower size of 12.7x99 and loading the magazine with SAPHE rounds; semi-armor piercing high explosive. The rounds were manufactured with a delay-action fuse that activated once the round was lodged in a target's body. In short, the bullet would explode once fired into another being, inflicting severe damage on internal organs.

The perfect bullet for killing the target Red Dragon deduced.

Moving onto sidearms RD decided he would need a pistol of medium caliber for close-range penetration of targets should any get near him. Opening a rack beneath the SP-EWFRL-M400 the operative found a batch of new pistols, apparently designated SPP-M6. Information was found in a box beneath the rack.

The SPP-M6 marks a new age of combat-centric pistols, designed for use by those that possess hands and fingers with a new round developed specifically for it. The Solar-Pulse Pistol Model 6 is a semi-automatic pistol operating on the short recoil principle and incorporating a rotating bolt and chamber cover. Firing an 11.43x23mm round from 8-round magazines the M6 is a mid-sized pistol capable of stopping even the most stalwart Stallion, though it is obviously ill-suited to stopping dragons or manticores.

Red Dragon loaded up several magazines for the M6 and took both it and the sniper rifle to the range, putting well over 1,000 rounds through each. Neither weapon produced a stoppage, even when RD fired the M6 upside down or the EWFRL-M400 upside down over his shoulder whilst doing the splits and with only one hand on the rifle, and thus determined that both were the perfect weapons for his mission.

Time to get to work.

"We're coming over the mountains now, and we'll be at Howloon in about 30 minutes" the pilot of Nightshade's heavy DRAVM called out as the mare sat in the back, idly looking over her SPP-M6. She was riding with the Empire's most elite aerial squad, the Spears Of The Night. The mare loved being in the sky, being a Pegasus, and as such enlisted in the Imperial Aerial Army. The Princesses saw that she was more fit on the ground, however, and stuck her there to hunt down the Peace Fighter leader. She still had her natural wings, however, and would gladly use them to gain an edge over the target.

I really don't want to do this. I want to fight the Peace Fighters, obviously, but I want to do it from the sky. I don't care about this leader bitch; if we just constantly slammed their forward positions, the Canines backing them, and their scattered bases they would collapse right before our eyes and I wouldn't need to be stuck out in the middle of bullshit nowhere-zone to find their leader Nightshade thought.

"Major Nightshade, we've spotted unmarked cargo ships in the waters below!" the pilot called out, prompting the Pegasus to climb up and join him, confirming that his claims were true. Three transport ships were sailing along in the ocean beneath them.

"Arm the cannons and bring us down to engage!" Nightshade commanded, turning to leave the cockpit.

"Wait! How do we know that they're enemy ships?"

"Princess Celestia herself has commanded that any and all unmarked transports, land, sea, or air are to be engaged immediately by any Imperial forces" the Major explained, taking a spot in the nose Solar-Pulse Arc-Shot Cannon.

The SP-ASC fired large rounds that travelled in an arcing pattern like warheads from a grenade launcher, and each dealt severe amounts of damage to organic and inorganic targets.

"Coming over the first ship now!" the pilot declared.

"FIRE!"

Major Nightshade took aim with the Arc-Shot and pressed down on the firing studs, spitting out the first shots at the rear-most vessel. The explosive rounds slammed into the wooden decks, turning the impact points into splinters and making the crew on the deck run about in confusion, scrambling for the defense guns.

"Take out those anti-air cannons or we'll be done right quick!"

Nightshade did as instructed and levelled her sights against the closest anti-air gun, firing a quick burst from her ASC which ripped the emplacement and the pony manning it apart. The rest of the emplacements on the first vessel quickly followed, leaving just the crew and their pistols to defend their ship.

The other two vessels were subject to the same fate, and Nightshade's DRAVM soared forward as the pilot began to bank, turning the vehicle around to make another pass on the transports.

Suddenly there was a massive boom and the DRAVM shook, the vehicle momentarily subjected to extreme turbulence which soon calmed. Nightshade pulled herself out of the nose-cannon mount and looked out the cockpit screen.

"The hell was that?" the Pegasus asked, scanning the transports for any guns they may have missed on the first pass.

There was nothing on the deck.

The mare looked to the right and saw some kind of aircraft approaching them, just about fire its guns again. Nightshade darted into action and jammed her hoof into the pilot's control stick, violently making the DRAVM dip downward as the rounds streaked right overhead.

"What the-"

"Shut up and keep flying! I wanna sink those ships AND take out this other aircraft harassing us!" the Major declared, running back to the right-side dual slug-blasters and charging the action.

The slug-blasters, or Dual-Barrel Kinetic Striker Turrets were essentially miniaturized rail guns fed from 20-round magazines of solid steel slugs. The mags were fed in at a 45-degree angle into their openings and were fired by magnetic force out of the gun. The magnetic charge frequently bled out of the chamber and resulted in stories of necklaces and earrings attaching themselves to the magazines and coins and other objects being sucked right off the floor and attaching to the gun.

Nightshade took aim down the ring sight and pulled the triggers, the first of the slugs starting to thunder out of the gun and streaking out as white lances across the night sky toward the larger aircraft chasing them. The pilot of the slower aircraft dipped the vehicle lower to get under the Imperial DRAVM, the Major taking advantage of the larger target for the brief few moments it was open.

"Get to the underside ball turret!"

The Major ran to the very back of the cabin and slipped in, resuming her attack on the PF aircraft with the DBKST there. While down there she saw Peace Fighters on the decks of the transport ships still shooting at them with their rifles and pistols.

Major Nightshade also got a better look at the PF aircraft, seeing that it was almost pitch black in color and sported many armaments, including a single gun on the top ball turret that the Pegasus didn't recognized.

Nightshade was about to open fire when she saw the unidentified gun take aim directly on her and start glowing red, prompting her to scramble out of the ball turret as fast as she could. A second after she had pulled out a straight beam of orange sliced through the emplacement and completely blast it apart, leaving an opening on the bottom of the DRAVM.

"The hell is that thing?!" Nightshade declared, rushing over to the right side DBKST and looking down at the enemy vehicle. The top turret was now aiming at the DRAVM as a whole and was charging, the same orange lance blasting through and cutting part of the aircraft like a saw.

"Get us under it!" the Major ordered the pilot, turning the DBKST down and returning fire, sending 40 solid steel slugs into the Peace Fighter aircraft in just as many seconds, reloading the guns when the pilot had gotten them into their new position.

While the enemy aerial vehicle busied itself with getting into a new position Nightshade returned to her original task of assaulting the transport ships, ripping several holes in the hull of the front-most ship and disabling the engines, leaving it dead in the waters. The other two ships weren't able to adequately turn in time and the middle one scraped and grinded against the front one, ripping a hole in its hull while the rear one slammed straight into it.

"The enemy aircraft is about to get back to us, and we'll make two more passes before moving on! Get back to the Arc-Shot and sink them!" the pilot commanded, the Major complying and slipping into position as the DRAVM finished turning, giving everything she got to completely ripping apart the remaining vessels, thousands of shards of metal and wood and bodies spraying into the air, blood and oil mixing with the waters of the ocean as the survivors scrambled to abandon ship.

"Suffer and die!" Nightshade yelled, never once taking her hooves off the triggers until she was sure the ships were completely disabled. The middle one began listing and soon turned onto its side, splitting in half as the rear ship's engine went into overdrive, pressing and pushing full-speed into the stern of the middle vessel. Smoke and fires raged from the oil and cooked off ammo stocks, leaving the transport convoy completely disabled and sinking.

"OK, we're done here! We're getting near Howloon, and we gotta get that PF aircraft off us! Hop to it, Nightshade!"

The Major climbed into the top ball turret and took aim on the bottom side of the enemy vehicle, the pony in the nose emplacement returning fire in full. The two aircraft's DBKST's thundered in full, both trying desperately to down the other.

Suddenly the enemy vehicle dipped down, the rear of the wings glowing red and the aircraft momentarily darting forward with immense speed, the left wing slashing right through the middle of the Imperial DRAVM, cutting it in half.

"WHAT THE HELL?! NIGHTSHADE, YOU NEED TO GET OFF THIS THING NOW!" the pilot shouted, the Pegasus darting into action and vaulting out the left side, beginning to fall away from the DRAVM as the two sides fell to the earth, slamming into a mountain and lighting up the sky with temporary explosions as the black aircraft banked away.

That was definitely NOT a Peace Fighter aircraft Nightshade thought, flapping her wings and gliding down, checking her gear when she landed to make sure she had everything.

Only the Changelings have aircraft that can slice other aircraft in half, but the Changelings are fully allied with us. If that wasn't a Changeling aircraft, and if it wasn't a Peace Fighter aircraft, then whose aircraft WAS it?

Bucking up Major Nightshade began her trek to the city of Howloon on hoof, knowing she just had to head in the direction of the fires and explosions several miles ahead of her.

Legal note: Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. Lieutenant Strong Spear, Private Gleaming Bullet, and all related characters belong to me. Nightshade belongs to Kirlia481 and was privately submitted as a character for this story(I do not allow open submissions).