KRAKKK!
Lightning forked through the hollow of the cloud, glinting off of wet feathers and lashing tails. Pale strands and dark fibers twirled amidst the tumult, illuminated by intermittent electrical flashes.
"Grrrrrrgh!" Seraphimus swung and struck and sliced endlessly with her claws. "Hrgggh! Mmmfff! Httt!"
Wildcard, weaponless, drew away from her in a spiral, raising his prosthetic and deflecting each attack with desperate precision. Clank! Cl-Clack! Clang!
Seraphimus' offense was insatiable. She shifted left and right, occupying his peripherals and giving him no chance to escape. Amidst the onslaught, she kept a careful eye on his goggles. And when lightning flickered—filling the heart of the cloud with an infinitesimally bright flash of silver light—she capitalized on his inevitable blindness. With a flap of her wings, she shot down, twirled, and rose up behind him. Claws raked around in a deathly semi-circle.
Wildcard flattened his body and spun. He was able to dodge one set of claws—but not the other. Sliiiiink! Blood sprayed the thunder between them, and he lost the air in his lungs just as he lost sight of his former superior.
Seraphimus dove in for the kill—only to receive a lucky kick to the beak. Wildcard followed up with two metal punches to the chest. Seraphimus absorbed the second blow—pain and all—and gripped his metal wrist with both talons, anchoring the two of them in midair.
Thinking fast, Wildcard threw up his lower body and slammed both paws into Seraphimus' figure. Just as he did so, he popped his prosthetic loose and vaulted off of her. The action separated the two of them by several wet, rainy feet.
Before Seraphimus could make sense of what happened, Wildcard magnetically drew the sparkling end of his disconnected arm back towards him. Seraphimus—still gripping it—jerked forward with the motion. The very moment that Wildcard—whirrr-chtung!—reconnected with his prosthetic, he brought his flesh talon up with a savage uppercut. WHAM!
Lightning flew. Seraphimus flew. A black streak followed her and—through the murky shadows following—Wildcard materialized to deliver a merciless drop-kick.
THUDD!
Seraphimus plummeted through the belly of the cloud. The air around them buzzed with electricity and rain. Miraculously, the former Commander's body narrowly missed two stabbing branches of lightning.
Wildcard struggled to see through the blinding flashes. If the Desperado was even capable of spotting what came next, he would likely have struggled with believing it.
Seraphimus had turned her free-fall into a curved glide. Hugging the inner edge of the cloud, she reached both talons out and dragged up a rolling cluster of stormy mists. Arcing back upwards, she collected more and more cloudy material—just as dark and ominous as the layers surrounding them. By the time she flew back up towards Wildcard on an intercept course, she was shoveling a thick wave of stormcloud. Sparks danced between her feathers as she screamed at the apex of her ascent—twirling her body backwards and bucking the material up at Wildcard with nightmarish force.
On its way towards him, the dense cluster of stormclouds buzzed and fluctuated with crackling energy before—KRAAAAAK!—exploding directly in front of him, forking lightning in all directions.
Wildcard may have actually screamed; he couldn't tell from the deafening thunder. Soon after, he couldn't tell from the pain of Seraphimus flying into him and pummeling his feathery skull with merciless lefts and rights.
One punch after another, Seraphimus shoved the two of them up... up... up the neck of the cloud...
...until they finally burst out of the summit altogether.
Exposed to the rain and twilight, Wildcard and Seraphimus wrestled in the upper atmosphere for dominance. It was a battle that Wildcard—after layers of blinding pain—was swiftly losing. He telegraphed it with weak blocks and wheezing breaths, struggling with every flesh and metal inch of his being to hold the former Talon Commander at bay.
In the next flash of lightning, their black and silver bodies glinted...
...so that they showed off like a beacon far across the tempestuous waves.
Bard's eyes twitched, reflecting the monochromatic struggle in the deathly distance.
His muzzle hung agape. Loose hooves slipped from his grip of the rudder wheel.
"Bard!" one sarosian shouted as the Stardust plowed through a blunt wall of water.
"Grnnngh!" Bard spat through the resulting spray. Hopping down off the platform, he joined his two velvety companions on the lower deck. "Look! Up high! Due west at 9 o'clock sharp!"
One sarosian paused in reloading his bleakweed cannon. His eyeslits scanned the twilight—then spotted the two combatants. "H'Luun... ly'syllem thryll sy'wym..."
"It's Wildcard!" Bard's voice cracked. "The damned mofo's in trouble! I just know it!"
"M'wynhrm!!!" The other sarosian fired a blast at Chandler's chariot, forcing it to veer off into a wider orbit. Panting, he looked at Bard while loading another rune. "We have enough on our hooves as it is, friend—"
"Shut yer bug trap! Look..." Bard gestured. "Can we fire an explosive at 'em?"
"To what end?!"
"I dunno!" Bard gnashed his teeth, flinging another worried look west. "To break up the fight! Knock 'em off their wings and give Dubya-Cee a chance to fly free?"
"I'm afraid it's too far, friend!" one sarosian said, enchanting the cannon and aiming at the circling chariot. "And our enemy approaches—"
"Can it be done or can't it?!"
"Possibly—but with double the payload of runes and with two enchanters committed to the spell! But right now we are requiring both cannons just to ward off these damnable land-dwellers—"
Frowning, Bard wrenched the cannon away from the warrior. "Gimme that dayum thang!" He rushed towards the edge of the Stardust's starboard side, slid on his rear knees, and shouted: "W'rhynnym!!!"
"NO!" One sarosian shrieked, leaping towards Bard. "That's not the right command—!"
But the cannon fired anyway—and it trailed burning smoke as it did so. Phwooooooooooosh—!"
"Defense Minister!" One bodyguard shouted, flying alongside Chandler's chariot. "Look out!"
"Yes. They're firing at us again," Chandler grunted, trying to get a good shot with his crossbow. "I see that—"
"But this one's d-different somehow!" A griffon's head turned in mid-flight. "And the trajectory—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Bard's ordinance landed in the waters before the chariot's flight path. The burning of the rune continued underwater, and within two seconds that portion of the ocean was bursting with scalding hot steam.
"Look out!" one pegasus driver said, swerving in his reins.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!" The other shrieked, flinching as he and his partner were carried forward by the momentum of the low-flying vehicle. Within a blink, the two pegasi's skin was peeling off from the sheer heat.
"Minister!" a griffon reached into the chariot and yanked Chandler out. "Jump!"
"Goddess—!" Chandler yelped as he and his companions were all engulfed in blood-stained steam.
The sarosians on board the Stardust watched—dumbstruck—as a pocket of ocean exploded in a scalding hot mist. Chandler's chariot flew in on one side... and came exploding out the other end with a loose spray of shrapnel and shattered metal. The eruption ended as soon as it began, leaving a fresh hot cloud looming over the crash site.
Bard stood up, and the cannon in his grasp was on fire. He tossed it limply into the drink and spat in the ocean. "Soup's on, ya douche kettle."
The bat ponies blinked.
Turning around, the Desperado pointed at their one remaining cannon. "Can we get that to fire a long-ranged shot or not?"
Briskly, the two rushed towards the Stardust's stockpile of runes. "We will need your swift assistance!"
"Brother..." Bard slicked his ponytail back and galloped after them. "...you got it!" He flung a look west. "Hang on, Dubya, ya crazy cat rooster. Just a little bit longer..."
"Rrrrgh!" Seraphimus swung a claw.
Breathless, Wildcard managed a narrow dodge.
Seraphimus swung her other talon.
Sliiiink!
Blood flew from Wildcard's sliced shoulder.
His beak flew open from the torturous strike. Thapp! A talon closed around his beak. He struggled to break free from Seraphimus' grip—but in so doing he offered up the actual target of her latest attack.
Seraphimus hoisted his body around by her grip of his metal limb. Twisting the Desperado until he was bent backwards, she slammed and slammed and slammed her elbow repeatedly into the joint of his prosthetic. Within seconds, his artificial claws dangled limply... harmless.
Seraphimus did not let up. Kneeing Wildcard hard in the square of his back, she stunned his body from head to tail and flung him towards a floating remnant of stormclouds.
Th-Thwump! Wildcard pinballed off the mist...
...and flew straight back into Seraphimus' grip. Thwppp! She now held both talons around his neck. Leering down at him, the former Commander of the Talon gradually applied pressure... slowly and agonizingly digging the tips of her claws into his flesh as he struggled for a breath.
"You gave up your voice, Jordan," she found the civility to whisper, charcoal eyes glaring at her own reflection in his goggles. "What use have you of your throat?"
The Desperado trembled... dangled...
Droplets of blood ran down two of Seraphimus' digits. Four. Six...
"It's..." The sarosians winced from the heat of the doubly-enchanted runes packed into the cannon. "It's primed and ready!" It took both of their combined dexterity to hold the thing from where they perched squarely in the middle of the Stardust's rain-slicked deck. "Do you see your compatriot?"
Bard exhaled, squinting down the sight of the cannon—a difficult task with how brightly the runes were shimmering. Off in the distant west, a dark speck dangled from a silver speck's grasp. "I do."
"Then it will be your shout to give, Bard—"
"M'wynhrm!!!'" Bard hollered melodically.
SHOOOOOOOM! The Stardust rocked east from the sheer force of the launched projectile.
Th-Thunk! The smoking cannon fell to the deckplates.
Bard watched breathlessly as the runic missile flew its course...
"Httt!" Rainbow Dash punched an armored pegasus in the face and bucked off the attack of a flanking griffon.
She sensed a flicker of burning light in her peripheral and spun towards it with a guarded hoof raised. Upon seeing the source of the illumination—a bright missile of lunar dust flying below her—she froze in the midst of battle to gawk.
"Whoahhhhhhh..." Pinkie Pie shivered all over. "That thing's h-headed s-somewhere with an attitude!"
"Where in blazes did it come from?" Applejack asked.
"The Stardust!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed.
"Oh yeah?" Rainbow Dash caught her breath and flew back into the fight, joining Ariel's side in fending off Frostknifers. "Where's it headed?"
Twilight Sparkle gazed west. She bit her lip...
Wildcard trembled, growing limp in Seraphimus' grip. His muscle spasms lessened. The feathers of his headcrest drooped.
Seraphimus sneered and sneered. Just as she flexed her wrist to dig into his neckmeat...
...a pair of blinding lights reflected off his goggles.
Seraphimus' charcoal eyes squinted. She flung a nervous look east.
A burning froth of lunar dust sailed straight towards the two of them.
"...!!!" Alarmed, Seraphimus dropped Wildcard altogether and flew in a random direction—
POWWWW!
The runic payload discharged. A spherical wave of concussive energy rippled outward in every direction. It sliced off the top half of the anvil cloud below, almost entirely vaporizing the storm altogether.
Wildcard barreled towards the east side of the cloud. A swath of mists scattered... then coalesced just in time to act as a drifting bed for the Desperado to land on.
Seraphimus, meanwhile...
"There!" Raptr pointed up high at the dissolving stormcloud. "I see her!"
"That explosion!" Starstorm exclaimed, squinting into the trailing brightness of the discharge. "Where did it come from?!"
"Who cares!" Raptr shot up like lightning, sailing towards Seraphimus' plummeting body. "Quick!"
"Oh Goddess..." Starstorm clenched her beak tight as she soared after the rookie.
Seraphimus fell like a ragdoll, thoroughly unconscious. Before her body could ricochet violently off the remains of the stormcloud, the two Talon members intercepted her. They caught the former Commander... cradling her and slowly carrying her down to sea level.
"That... that was crazy," Raptr wheezed.
"No lectures on 'crazy,'" Starstorm stammered, using a free hand to rummage through her belt. "Not quite yet."
Raptr craned his neck to look over Seraphimus' head. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like?" Starstorm produced a series of metal cords. "Help me restrain her."
"Tie her up?!" Raptr grimaced. "Seraphimus?! You sure that's a good idea?!"
"... ... ..." Starstorm simply glared at him.
He gulped and nodded as the two perched with her on a drifting piece of wreckage. "Right. 'Shut up, rookie.'" And the two swiftly went about binding the figure's paws and talons.
On board the Stardust...
"Yeeeehaa!" Bard hopped up and down, his wings flexing. "Desperado delivery received and signed! You can thank me later, ya feathery bastard!"
The two sarosians shrieked jubilantly.
Bard shuddered, slicking his bangs back as he smirked into the thunder and mists. "Sorry it was a mite bit noggin'-bustin', mofo, but rather you have a migraine than become angry griffon food."
"That last spell took the strength out of our remaining cannon," one warrior said. He turned to face Bard. "We are no longer of use to our brothers and sisters. I suggest we take you back to the platform so you can join W'ynlppa yln H'luun upon her return."
"Righto." Bard nodded. He turned towards the upper platform and its rudder wheel. "We've done all we can here. Let's water-mosey on back to—" Something sharp and metal whizzed by his skull.
Thwifffffft! THUNK! One of the sarosians doubled over; a crossbolt was embedded quiver-deep in his throat.
The other warrior shrieked loudly.
"!!!" Bard spun about, eyes stabbing the heavens. Shadows circled closer through the mists.
"Damn..." Brye Chandler snarled. Dangling in the grip of two griffons, he loaded another barb into his crossbow and pointed it at the Stardust a dozen meters below. "I was aiming for the ugly one."
"You hit a midnighter, sir!" one bodyguard shouted.
"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Chandler barked, aiming. "Avenge your comrades in arms!"
Schiiiing! Swords and spears lit the wet air.
"Soldiers of Rohbredden...!"
While two griffons continued carrying the Defense Minister aloft, four remaining members of Chandler's squadron sailed down at the Stardust with weapons drawn.
"...slay in the name of Verlaxionnn!"
"Aaaaaaaaugh!"
"Deatttth!"
Chandler fired a second shot—
—that ricocheted off the bow of Flynn's ship. After a spray of sparks, the arrow rolled to a stop against the meaty body of the dying sarosian. He collapsed and gargled blood while his nightblooded companion shook his shoulder frantically.
"S'ymlythym! S'ymlythym!" His slitted eyes teared. "Hy'symy syln lys'lym thym hy'lym, S'ymylthym!"
"Eyes up!" Bard sputtered, jerking about and gazing skyward. "We've got company—"
Th-Th-Th-Thump! Four sets of limbs—two pegasi and two griffons—landed on the Stardust's deck. "Midnighter seafoam filth—!"
"Rrrrrrrrrgh—" Spinning from his slain friend, the other sarosian flew straight at the intruders with twin whalebone scimitars. Schhhing! "Hreeeee-eeee-eeeee-eeeessssh!"
"Wait!" Bard reached towards his bandolier. "Don't—"
The sarosian clashed with a pegasus, then knocked a griffon onto his flank. As he tried to pounce the second Frostknifer, a third came from the side—cleaving the sarosian's shoulder in two with a gold-glinting sword. Schlunkkk!
"Dammit!" Bard extended his bo-staff in a silver flash. Cl-Clakkka! "Dammit to Hell—!"
"Aaaaaaaaugh!" A griffon and a pegasus rushed him.
Sneering, Bard charged them on stomp-stomp-stomping hooves. He slid halfway across the Stardust, twirling his staff low.
The pegasus flew up to avoid the weapon. The griffon—however—charged on through with his sword. Schiiing!
Bard blocked the blade in reverse—CLANK!—and then spun his staff up to throw the griffon's weight off. Shadows shifted, and the Desperado sensed the pegasus diving from behind. He twirled to the side just in time to avoid a spear jab. THUNK! As sparks danced across the deck, Bard spun about, knocked the spear away, then uppercutted the pegasus with his staff. "Rrrrgh!" WHACK!
The second pegasus and griffon leapt over the dead sarosian and charged Bard. "Son of Blight—"
Bard silenced the pegasus with a staff-jab to the chest.
The griffon swung his sword into Bard's skull.
Bard barely dodged, losing a lock of mane-hair. He tripped the griffon to the ground, twirled his staff, and crushed the griffon's beak into eggshell fragments against the deckplate.
As the griffon screamed into a fountain of blood, Bard cartwheeled over him then held his staff high in time to block an attack from three separate foes. CL-CL-CLANK! With a deep-bellied yell, he shoved the weight of two pegasi and one griffon off. The air whizzed again—and he hopped back in time to avoid another crossbolt from Chandler above.
Clank!
Bard's eyes darted towards the impact that the projectile made with the hull... and he ignored the blood of his companions beneath him. "...shit!" He slipped, falling wetly on his back.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaugh—!" A pegasus leapt down at him, spear first.
Bard swung his staff up in two hooves—knocking aside the thrust and embedding the blade of the polearm into the Stardust's cabin doorframe behind him. In the next breath, Bard kicked a loose whalebone scimitar closer towards his own torso, grasped it in his fetlock, and shoved it deep into the pegasus' ribs.
"Grkkk!" The pegasus' eyes rolled back. He fell aside... and his two companions rushed through him.
"Yaaaaaaaugh—!"
Sword.
"Aaaaaaaa—!"
Spear.
Bard rolled away from them. He stumbled to his hooves, gripping his staff between his teeth. Pivoting his neck from side to side, he parried the multiple thrusts and attacks of his two advancing enemies while backtrotting. Once he found enough open space, he spat the staff out, spun around, jumped to his rear hooves, and caught the weapon in his front fetlocks. Twirling the weapon, he succeeded in deflecting the next flurry of attacks, followed by—
"Rrrraaaugh!"
—a savage lengthwise thrust, knocking the two Frostknifers onto their backsides.
Panting... stained in blood, Bard looked back up to the sky. He saw lightning. Stars. Color. Something warm and awesome flickered in the distance. "Rainbow..." Catching his breath, he spread his wings to do the smart thing and take off—
Thwissssssssh!
—which was precisely when a crossbolt ripped through his left wing. Schliiink!
"Aaaaaaugh!" Bard fell flat on his belly. His feathers dangled uselessly by his side, drenched in his own juices. He struggled to push himself up by the grip of his staff.
"Hold him!" Chandler's voice shouted from above as he loaded another arrow. "For Verlaxion's sake, hold the maniac still—!"
"I got him—!" The last remaining pegasus charged with his spear once again.
Hissing through his teeth, Bard lifted his staff in time to catch the guardian in the chest. He vaulted the flailing pegasus over him—forcing the soldier to drop his spear.
"Grnnngh..." Pushing against the pain, Bard picked up the enemy spear in his free hoof, stood up, spun, and flung it skyward with all his might. "Rrrrr-aaaaugh!"
Chandler was aiming down his sight when he saw the blade of the spear flying at him. "...!" He jerked back in the grip of his bodyguards, yelping. "Goddess—!"
CHTINKKK! The spear found a resting spot between the seams of his shoulderplates, vibrating to a stop.
"Minister!" one of the griffons carrying him gasped.
"Shhhhhhhh—!" Brye Chandler writhed in his rattling gear. "Fly us up! Get this damned thing out of me!"
"But sir..." The other guard glanced closely at the spear. "I don't think the blade has pierced any—"
"I said fly me away! Do you understand how important I am to Verlaxion's cause?!"
"Yes, sir! Right away—!"
And both guards ascended, carrying Chandler away from the Stardust. Away from the bloodbath.
Bard watched them, heaving... bleeding... turning—
"Aaaaaaaugh!" The last griffon plowed into him.
Bard shrieked in pain. As the griffon's talons raked his flesh, he spun in a circle, knocking the guardian off.
Wh-Wham! The griffon slammed into the railing of the Stardust. With a frown, he came barreling back at Bard with a dagger drawn.
"Aaaaaaa—!" Bard shoved the full length of his pole forward and—with incredible finesse
"Grllggggkkkt!"
—shoved it pulp-deep into the griffon's gullet. Blood vomited from the attacker's beak for a brief instant. Then...
Crk-CRKKK! Bard fiercely jerked his staff at a sixty-degree angle.
The griffon's neck snapped. As his throat spat out Bard's staff, his carcass fell like a wet sack of bricks.
Bard exhaled. He felt like collapsing too—
Schlunkkkkk!
—the Desperado jerked in place. He looked down, observing the bloodied sword tip protruding out through his belly.
The last pegasus behind him held the hilt, having impaled Bard from behind. Twisting the blade, he leaned forward to whisper a curse in Bard's ear.
Bard snorted, fighting to keep the pathway to his lungs and stomach close. With adept fetlocks, he slid his staff behind him, caught the pegasus, and hoisted upwards in reverse.
"Whoah—!" The pegasus flailed, somersaulting against his will. In a wet second, he fell belly-first against the Stardust's railing. His muzzle stopped mere centimeters from the ocean water. He was about to move when a massive, bleeding weight pressed into him from behind. Bard locked his staff under the pegasus' neck and shoved his cranium below the water. "Grllglgggght!"
Bard stared past the waves. He held his breath... his blood... his everything.
The pegasus attempted to as well... but wasn't nearly as successful. His lower body shook and thrashed against his impaled foe... but to no avail. Within a minute, the pegasus' figure lay limp... fully and thoroughly drowned.
And with that accomplished...
Cl-Clank!
Bard dropped his crimson-stained staff to the Stardust's deck. He then slumped down onto his knees... lingering in place. Quivering.
At last—between the pain and desperation—his chest muscles gave in. He was almost horrified that he could—in fact—still breathe. His sinuses filled with the raw scent of his insides, and it was then that he realized how cold the metal was running through his abdomen.
Nausea erupted like a fountain. He drew it away with his eyes, scraping the horizon... discovering in bitter irony that he was facing west.
Stormclouds flickered. A melee raged high overhead. Flames billowed amongst the rocks and shoals. Somewhere in the distance—faint and nebulous—a glow lingered against the waves.
Bard thought for a moment that he saw it, but he knew better. His breaths were steadying now, although the pain hadn't left. Not yet.
Colder. Wetter.
He inhaled and exhaled... wheezing this time. His eyes searched and searched...
"Wy'sylym wylyn lyss!" voices rang through the chambers of Bleak's Plummet.
Echo hollered back. Several other sarosians rushed past him, carrying bundles of medical supplies towards the topmost level.
With a calm breath, Echo trotted back to the translucent window where others stood as sentries. "Good news! It's Enix! She's alive!" He bore a fanged smirk. "She's sliced-and-diced to high Hell, but the crazy bitch is alive! What's more, she says that Rainbow and the others are past the second and third phase of the plan!"
There was dead, dreadful silence.
Echo's eyeslits narrowed. He looked at the dainty silhouette seated before the runic field. "Nicole?" He cocked his head to the side. "Nicole, what is it?"
She said nothing. She couldn't.
She sat at the window, gazing east.
Her lips pursed open... though she didn't know why. A mere whimper escaped her lips... lonesome and melodic.
Bard exhaled. Gazing back. The world's horizon. Dull and dim and dying.
"... ... ...no more sunsets."
He tilted his muzzle up. Searching for color... spotting it for only a moment... but then seeing more and more darkness instead.
Wildcard's goggles reflected the same.
And perhaps it was that which woke him... which got him moving.
That... and the dormant speck occupying the distant waters between his fragile cloud bed and the edge of the world. A speck that was no longer moving... but merely stranded beneath a curtain of dark mists.
And he shifted... wincing against his still-fresh wounds.
His metal claws groaned and clattered with each attempt that his battered prosthetic made to move them. But that wasn't the limb that mattered at the moment.
Holding his breath, the feathered Desperado stretched his wings... and glided due east. Descending.
Towards the Stardust.