"Harrk!" Kepler shouted into the thunder at the edge of the world. "It arrrives!"
Flynn did a double-take at the deluge, glancing past their mana equipment. "It does?"
"I estimate a few minutes now!" the wyvern exclaimed.
"Good enough!" Logan marched over towards a stack of lunar rune stones. "Let's fire this bitch up!"
"Isn't that a tad bit premature?" Flynn remarked.
"Balls to you, baldy!" Logan spat. "Or has your eggheaded ass forgotten to calculate for the time and distance needed for Rainbow Dash to fly her petite butt back here?" An obese smirk. "See? I'm not all sex and sass!"
Flynn sighed, then smiled at Kepler. "We should fire the signal."
"Affirrmative!" Kepler enchanted a series of moon rocks and tossed them to Logan and Flynn. "The illumination spell! Be surre to aim it high so that—"
"Yeah, yeah... we got it!" Logan nodded and slapped the ammunition into the cannon. "Gonna need an extra set of hooves with this one!"
"Axan!" Flynn hollered across the wet platform as lightning strobed overhead. "The Gondola's almost here and we have to fire the signal!" There was no response. "Yoohoo?! End of the world to Remna???"
"Wherre is she?" Kepler asked.
"Who cares?" Logan fitted the last rune into the boomstick and propped it over his broad figure. "Let's end this slumber party!"
"Right..." Flynn propped himself up behind the larger stallion, took a deep breath, and shouted into the cannon's runic aura: "Y'lynwyn! Y'ynlppa!"
After the first word was whinnied, the runes burned with flame. As the projectile exited the cannon, the second word caught up with it—and the rocks frothed to a crimson red hue. It left a scarlet trail behind it as it arced west, soaring high into the tempestuous air.
The two exhausted forces wrestled with one another high in the stormclouds.
Rainbow's group fought and knocked back various members of the Central Guard as they desperately trickled in.
Frostknifers fell—pummeled to the point of blacking out. Injured sarosians leaned on their companions as they were carried away from the front line.
And just as the battle looked as though it couldn't get more chaotic...
...a brilliant explosion of red light billowed directly overhead. The illumination was spread by reactionary branches of lightning that forked every which way, spreading the crimson enchantment around until it occupied the better part of the atmosphere above the melee.
"Looky!" Pinkie Pie pointed upwards, beaming. "Looky looky!"
"Oh thank Celestia!" Rarity whimpered.
Breathless, Rainbow Dash shoved a guardian off of Ariel and punched another griffon. "Grnnngh..." She flung a sweaty look at her friends. "Twilight?!"
The ghostly unicorn was already nodding. "It's the real deal, Rainbow! The Gondola's practically there!"
"Time for Dark-Side-a-go-go!" Pinkie Pie warbled. "Go-go-go-go-go!"
"The enemy's weak!" Fluttershy squeaked. "But they're not letting up—!"
"Doesn't matter!" Rainbow yanked Ariel closer and pointed skyward. "We're leaving! Everypony—!"
Ariel whistled shrilly and gestured at the sarosians hovering high above the battle.
Several slitted eyes bobbed as the midnighters nodded back. Following Ariel's signal, they flew behind a massive stormcloud and bucked its summit with all their might.
KRAKKKK!
Lightning ribboned through the battle scene, aimed squarely at the line of Frostknifers. It didn't strike any pegasus or griffon, but the electrical discharge was enough to throw their attention off—even blinding a few of them.
"Now!" Rainbow Dash hollered, gesturing emphatically as she pierced the heavens in an eastward glide. "Back to the edge! Heraldites, form up! Sarosians, regroup... gain air... and rejoin Xarchellus!"
"H'ywllsa ly'mymy!" a nightblooded warrior hollered into the air as velvety bodies followed Rainbow Dash's orders, abandoning the battle and soaring east. Several bat ponies picked up their fallen comrades and flew in tight groups, disappearing behind the stormclouds. "W'ynlppa yln H'luun syl wy'lsyna thym!"
The battered, bruised members of the Central Guard found themselves hovering alone in the red-tinted air. As the lightning faded, the bodies of their enemies disappeared. In their place, a precipitous fountain of red flares rained down thickly, bathing the twilight with a blood-colored malaise.
Windburst panted and panted. He shared the same incredulous look as his comrades. "Sir..." He leaned against Keris, wincing from multiple welts and cuts. "...I'd suggest we do something to hold the troops back, but... th-they don't appear to be chasing Rainbow's friends..."
Keris didn't respond. His beak clenched as he stared ahead.
Countless red flares ribboned seaward like bloodied moss. Soon, the waters below reflected their pulsating hue.
At last, the Commander of the Talon murmured: "Sailor take warning..."
Windburst glanced aside. "Sir?"
"We... are to regroup," Keris managed. His eyes darted across each descending flare. "Rejoin the armada. Find Chandler."
"And if Chandler yells at us for abandoning the enemy?"
"It's a bit late for that, Sergeant."
Windburst shuddered, squinting east. "You really think Rainbow Dash made it, Commander?"
"... ... ...we can only hope."
"Blood of Luna!" A sarosian flew closer to Rainbow Dash as they blurred towards the source of the runic flare. "We have joined formation just like you asked! What now?"
"What else?" Rainbow Dash's eyes remained locked on the golden line fluctuating ahead of her. A bulbous spot grew with intensity in the very center, chilling her to the core. "Get to a high altitude—out of sight—and return to Bleak's Plummet!"
"But—"
"Just as we planned!"
"They might yet send a final counter-offensive!" the warrior exclaimed, fangs glinting. "Please! Let us join you! We will gladly give our lives to—"
"No!" Rainbow Dash glared at her. "Enough lives have been given today! By both sides!" She gulped, shivering in the wet winds. "Go. Join Bleak's Plummet and do the one thing I'd give both my wings to do right now." The hint of a devilish smirk, bitter and sweet. "Go home."
The sarosians stared back at her. Then—at last—they nodded with conviction.
"W'ynlppa yln H'luun..." Fangs. Eyeslits glimmering in the twilight. "It has been an honor."
"Save it for the Matriarch back in Equestria," Rainbow Dash said. "And Celestia." She saluted. "She's cool too."
"H'wlynym!"
"S'lyppa thrym syln hy'lynywym!"
"Eee-Eee-Eee-Eee!"
With that, the massive flock of velvet and leather banked up and out of sight. An echoing squeak, then blurred wings, and the entire group disappeared with the shadows of endless night. They were lost in the next strobe of lightning.
"That's it, then?" Ariel stammered, shivering slightly.
"Let's not worry about them," Rainbow said, flapping her wings harder. "We've got a Gondola to catch." She blinked, then squinted at her side. "Why are you shivering so much?"
"Rainbow... when..." Ariel grimaced. "...when was the last time either of us saw Wildcard?"
Rainbow blinked. She looked at her friends. "Fluttershy?"
There was no response. A glazed pair of turquoise eyes reflected clouds and gray miasma.
"... ... ...Fluttershy?"
Red flares were falling to the ocean's surface by the time Wildcard reached the Stardust.
He landed softly on a bloodsoaked deck. Paws and talons stepped gingerly over corpses and dropped weapons.
At last—with a scraping shuffle—Wildcard came to a stop. He stood still and grim, his dark feathers unmoving. As the red flares fell all around the ship, a wheezing voice pierced the silence. A ragged reflection tilted its head up in the griffon's goggles, and a grizzled muzzle curved ever so slightly.
"Heh... well I'll be damned." One healthy wing twitched while the other draped against the deck, soaking in his own blood. "Finally got ya to shut up."
Wildcard said nothing.
"Shoulda... shoulda seen it, Dubya-Cee. A real slobberknocker. Took... grnngh... took 'em all to the woodshed. Problem is..." Bard tried to get up. The blade exiting his belly glinted in the red light, and he fell back to his flank with a wince. "Ghhh!"
Wildcard rushed forward, gripping the pegasus' shoulders.
"Hrfff..." Bard's eyes were thin—just like his smile. "Reckon I got stuck on the way out..."
A flesh talon covered Bard's muzzle. Taking a deep breath, Wildcard reached behind him and grasped the hilt of the sword.
"Don't..."
Wildcard clenched his beak as he began to tug—
"Grkkkk!" Bard hissed, then overpowered Wildcard's arm with two shaking fetlocks. "Don't!" He wheezed, bile trickling from his muzzle. "I'll... grggh... go even faster with it out..."
The griffon leaned back. He breathed and breathed, goggles full of blood and rust.
"Dubya..."
Reluctantly, he looked up.
"I... f-failed Melody... and Amber..." Bard kept his gaze steady, although his voice wasn't. "But I didn't fail her." A trilling sound, and he fought the urge to fall over on his impalement. "Nicole... she's goin' to brighter pastures. Hrmmm..." A hard-edged smirk. "...t'ain't no failure in a second life if you spend it doin' what's right."
Wildcard listened.
Metal scraped.
Bard used all his strength to raise his bo-staff between them. Without hesitation, Wildcard gripped it. The air between them was clear of rain and thunder.
"Dun you fail Rainbow Dash, y'hear?" Bard wheezed. His stubble was now a frown, warm and sincere. "I know how much she means to ya, so you do all you damned well can to get her to where she needs to go." A shudder. "Make yer second life an encore to remember. It's all that matters now. It's all that's ever mattered."
Wildcard exhaled with a shudder. He held the staff under one wing and used his one good talon to gesture something.
"Hmmmm..." Bard nodded back with a smile. "Alright, mofo. Almost all..." His ears drooped.
Wildcard smiled back. He rested his talon on Bard's shoulder.
The red flares fell all around the Stardust as the Desperadoes leaned their foreheads together, sharing the shivers of the moment. A few breaths—some warm, others ragged.
"Ain't no gettin' off this train we're on," Bard whispered. His smile squeezed out through a sob, and his grip of Wildcard's shoulder tightened for one final time.
Wildcard nodded against Bard's head. At last—as the redness began to dissipate—he felt a strong hoof pushing him back.
"Now... skedaddle." Bard gulped, bracing himself against the bloodied deckplates. "Them bastards will be comin' back any second now. Dun worry. I got 'em covered." A piercing glare. "Time for yer solo."
Wildcard stood up, gripping the metal staff. He lingered on the east end of the Stardust, fidgeting.
"Go, dammit! Git!" Bard calmly peeled off his belt and bandolier. "While I still got a spotlight to shine in..."
Wildcard breathed and breathed and—
FWOOOOSH!
—murked off in a black streak, piercing the final heavens.
Bard gazed after him. A slight mist touched his eyes...
At least until he closed them.