Deadly Rainbow
Rainbow was certainly magnificent. Pride and joy of Equestrian Air force, the immense airship inspired abject reverence. Crewed by two and half hundred ponies, not counting four squadrons of pegasi fighters and a support division of unicorns, Rainbow`s mere presence in the sky dwarfed the castles and cowed the cities into meek submission. An icon of Equestrian military might and technological advancement, Rainbow also carried rocketry and cannon batteries of unprecedented firepower. Only two years into service, and airship already had been known far and wide, inspiring jubilation and confidence in allies and abject fear and begrudging respect in enemies.
Quick Quill was still incredulous about his luck. A journalist just earning his name, he certainly did not expect to be present at the deck of military airship. Yet, there he was. What began as a simple chore of asking around some of the airship crew about the ship had suddenly became a personal invitation by the admiral to attend the patrol flight of the ship, with exclusive rights to publish anything that wasn`t deemed military secret. It was very nice of admiral to write a letter for him too - Quick Quill was pretty certain chief editor of Equestrian Inquirer would have not believed him otherwise.
Of course, young journalist wasn`t exactly expecting to be a war reporter - but that didn`t matter much, since Rainbow was just performing a routine patrol of the border. Following the recent war of succession in the Griffin Kingdom, the aforementioned kingdom had factually ceased to exist, split into four mutually opposing duchies and their vassals. After unexpected death of Stormwing the Fourteenth in a hunting accident, succession crisis followed, for Stormwing the Fourteenth had neither heir, nor even wife to take the regency. Each of the four grand dukes had some legitimacy beyond their claim to the throne, but none of the four commanded enough clout to overtake the other three.
Military action soon followed, and it wasn`t before long that griffin skirmishers began making incursions into the borders of Equestria, raiding and pillaging small villages along the foothills. Reprisals by Equestrian military came without delay, and soon enough, a dead zone had been established along the border, routinely patrolled by airships and pegasi squads, intercepting and routing skirmishers back into mountains. Normally, a capital warship like Rainbow would not be used for patrol duty, but according to what Quick Quill had been told so far, it was merely sabre rattling - rather insistent reminder to the grand dukes of Silverclaw and Thunder Crown to keep their unruly subjects under control or else.
He peered over the railing. Down below, hills looked almost flat. He knew, of course, that from the ground, hills wouldn`t appear to be anything close to flatness he perceived from above. Lifting camera, he pointed it downwards and held his breath.... One, two, three... THERE! A perfect view. He snapped off two shots quickly. It was close to three in the afternoon. Soon, admiral would come to the bridge and he could conduct his interview. He couldn`t wait.
Melodic chime reverberated through the frame of airship, three clear tones signaling three in the afternoon. Quick Quill turned around and walked into the command gondola. Admiral was already there, sitting on her chair lazily, tuft of unruly rainbow hair sticking out from under the crooked shako. "Enjoying the view, kid?" - she offered in that raspy voice of hers, nodding at the folding stool next to her chair, - "Sit down and let`s get this interview business started."
Quick Quill nodded, sitting down on the stool and whipping out notepad and pencil from his bag. "...First of all, let me say again I`m very thankful you agreed to give me that interview." - he ventured, voice cracking slightly as he forced himself to maintain composure - "While we are on that topic, can you please comment on the reasons why you`ve consented to give me an interview after more then four years of not speaking to press?" Old mare chuckled, her laughter quickly devolving into a little cough.
- I see you did your homework. Fast and to the point, the way I like it. Very well, let`s talk about this first. Why I agreed to that interview? Because sooner or later, I have to speak to press in any case. So why not start with someone fresh in the business? Some of your more seasoned colleagues exhibit a lack in tact that is alarming even to me, and Rainbow Dash is not a mare known for being subtle. Besides, I am guessing your career just might take a leap for snagging this.
- Y.. yes, quite so. But what was that about some of my colleagues lacking in tact? Were some of those less tactful journalists responsible for your four year old hiatus from any direct contact with press?
- To a point, yes. But that`s neither here, nor now. Maybe I`ll talk about that more later, but for now... were there any other questions you wanted to ask?
- Ah, yes, I understand. Well, the question on everypony`s lips is this - what is your opinion of this airship? Rainbow represents a pinnacle of Equestrian warfare science, and the question is... Is this ship really all that?
- Hah, you better bucking believe it. Rainbow is the finest ship I`ve had under my command. Despite being the largest combat airship, Rainbow can maintain cruising speed of eighty four knots - very tangible improvement over the Nimbus-class airship with it`s sixty eight knots.
- Maximum speed, eighty four knots... Got it.
- What? No, not maximum speed! Cruising speed. In the name of Celestia, what are they teaching you kids in school nowadays?
- ...Oh. Could you please explain this, admiral?
- Buckin` A. Ok, listen, it`s like this. Cruising speed is the speed at which airship movement is the most economic to maintain. Whenever airship is flying somewhere and has no reason to hurry, it will be moving at cruising speed to conserve the engine fuel. Airships can easily go faster then cruising speed if the need comes. Nimbus class can easily give ninety knots, if it needs to be so. As for Rainbow, during test runs she stably performed at the speeds over a hundred knots.
- Over a hundred knots... That`s a lot, right?
- For an airship? Yes, it`s a lot. Pegasi can reach much higher speed in a free flight, but only for short time and at the cost of great exertion.
- What was the highest speed you had personally flown at, admiral?
- ...Now that`s a loaded question, kid. As you know, I`ve performed several sonic rainbooms. According to official measurements, pegasus must travel at the speed exceeding six hundred knots to successfully breech into rainboom. After the breech... Nopony knows for sure. Theory suggests that past-breech, speed increases by the order of magnitude, which would put pegasus gliding on rainboom wave at over six thousands knots. But this is just guesswork. It could be equally easily over nine thousands as well. So the most precise answer that would be certainly truthful would be "really bucking fast".
- Alright, gotcha. Back to my previous question, however. Rainbow is fast. What else can you tell us about this ship?
- She`s powerful. Rainbow is fitted with six cannon batteries, each numbering twelve state-of-the-art six-inch Rainmetall cannons. That totals to thirty six cannons covering each board. Each battery also mounts two Dragonbreath railframes. Each railframe can fire a volley of twenty rockets in under two seconds, liberally saturating air with flak. Lastly, Rainbow is fitted with bomb bays that can accommodate a wide range or ordnance from Discoteque clusterbombs to Grand Slam castlebusters.
- Wow. That`s a while lot of firepower.
- Damn right it is! And don`t forget that Rainbow also carries four squadrons of pegasi on board, ready to fight within two minutes.
- ...Admiral, I have to ask. With all that firepower, how well the Rainbow is defended? I shudder to think of how much gunpowder is necessary to keep all those guns fed.
- Ah, a good question. The gunpowder bunkers and the fuel tanks are positioned inside the envelope, surrounded by hundreds cubic yards of buoyant cloudfluff on all sides. To put it simply, scoring a reliable hit on either would only be possible if Rainbow was already partially destroyed and going down. The envelope is reinforced with steel wire and is split into self-containing cells of cloudfluff. So even if envelope is somehow punctured, it would not just pop like a balloon. Finally, engines, rudders and all personnel compartments are armored with dural. Crucial areas like engines and command section are additionally shielded by dragonmesh - magisynthetic material that mimics dragon skin in it`s magic-dissipating capacity.
- ...Impervious armor... got it.
- Well, not quite impervious, kid. It would be a lethal mistake to believe oneself indestructible - a lesson that I`ve received quite a few times, both personally and as a commander. Just because you can take a buck does not mean you can take a dozen back-to-back. When all is said and done, Rainbow is still an airship, not a castle. Her primary defences are mobility and long-range firepower - not giving enemy a chance to strike at all works better then any kind of armor could.
- Superior mobility... Hm. But she still needs all that armor, does she not?
- Yes. Yes, she does. All capital airships rely on a combination of firepower, armor and mobility to prevail, and I`m proud to say that Rainbow here demonstrated unsurpassed capacity for it. I can honestly claim that as of now, Rainbow is the most singularly powerful military airship in the world. However...
- Yes?
- However, kid, even the most powerful ship in the world is nothing without her crew. Make no mistake - in the hooves of fools, even Rainbow would be a lousy fighter. Every single pony on board this ship is among Equestrian finest - cream of the crop, as Rarity would say. Every last one of them is a veteran and a patriot to the bone.
Just as Quick Quill was about to ask something else, one of the unicorn officers run up to admiral`s chair, stating - "Admiral Rainbow Dash, ma`am! Boogies spotted at the starboard." Journalist quietened down immediately, his ears pricking as he listened intently. He was about to witness genuine military action! The thought made him both excited and slightly sick with nervousness. Rainbow Dash straightened in her chair.
"Bearing? Altitude? Speed?" - she barked. Helmspony sounded off - "Westnordwest, ma`am! Eight-thirty fathoms and descending! Eighty two knots!" Dash glanced at the chronometer, then on the map. "Boogies identified?" - she quipped, looking at the reporting officer. "Negative, ma`am! Spotters report twenty-three griffins, no visible identification. All of them armed able-bodied adults, no cargo spotted. Upon sighting us scattered and took cover in terrain in quadrant fifteen-six!" - replied officer, - "Orders, ma`am?"
Dash checked the map again and heaved a sigh. "Raiders..." - she muttered, - "Any indication they`re withdrawing?" Unicorn shook his head - "None, ma`am! So far, observation suggests they`re attempting to avoid being noticed." Dash quietly swore under her breath. "Chief cannoneer! Ready the fore starboard battery." - she offered, raspier then usual, - "Launch smoke signal rocket over the quadrant fifteen-six. They have five minute grace period. After that, shell the quadrant." She turned to the unicorn - "Continue observation, report any enemy movement immediately."
Quick Quill expected some kind of commotion to erupt, but... nothing. Everypony was carrying on. Perhaps, he misunderstood? Perhaps, shelling meant something else? He could not help but keep glancing at the chronometer. "Smoke signal rocket deployed! No movement in quadrant!" - sounded off observation officer. Minute. Two. Three. Fo... "Boogies are congregating in the southwest of quadrant! Confirmed defensive formation."
"...Confirmed as combatants, then... They`re expecting us to send in pegasi squadron, apparently..." - muttered Dash, and brought her hoof down on the chair, having reached a decision - "Chief cannoneer. Commence shelling now." "Aye-aye, sir!" - replied turquoise mare, trotting out of command post briskly. Dash glanced at the journalist briefly - "Open your mouth and plug your ears, kid. You`d be grateful for it."
Just as Quick Quill opened his mouth to reply, ship shuddered. Cannon barrage was absolutely deafening. His hooves pressed into ears almost instinctively, staring at the admiral in shock. Several more jolts passed through, signifying more cannon fire. That... was most certainly not a joke. Not a joke. No joke at all. Suddenly, Quick Quill noticed that Rainbow Dash is apparently talking to him. Pulling hooves away from the ears gingerly, he marvelled at the ringing silence.
"...I said, are you alright, kid? Don`t spaz on me there, y`hear?" - she barked, waving hoof in front of his face. Quick Quill let out a long shuddering breath. "...Sun`s glory. I`ve never heard cannon fire before." - he admitted shakily, trying to pick up his pencil and notepad again. "Yeah, well, it`s not a sound ponies should ever hear, really." - offered blue pegasus, shaking her head ruefully.
- ...What would happen to griffins?
- What do you think, kid? Most of them are dead or dying by now. If any of them got off lightly, they will return to the duchy of Silverclaw with another horror tale of no pony zone.
- ...Is it... usual thing to happen?
- Not really, no. Most raiders have enough common sense to turn back when they see the smoke signal. Those were.. overly determined bunch. Oh well. They knew the score when they decided to stand their ground.
- But why did they do that? I mean, wasn`t it a suicide decision on their part?
- Well, my best guess would be they did not expect Rainbow to be carrying any cannons at all. Nimbus-class airships have very distinct dovetail rudders. I believe they assumed Rainbow to be a troop carrier airship... And if it were so, my only recourse of action would be to send a squadron of pegasi down to subdue them. So they tried to form defensive ranks upon confirming we are aware of their presence.
- I see. So what will happen now?
- Well, that skirmish was already reported... So, most likely a couple of troop carriers will be dispatched into this quadrant. They will investigate the area and capture any surviving combatants still there, providing medical assistance where necessary. Then the place would be photographed and documented, and POWs, if any, would be taken to the holding camp, interrogated and later deported back to Griffin Kingdom.
- That sounds awful.
- Well duh. It is.
- Ok, so what do you think of it? Will that kind of thing ever stop?
- What I think, kid?... A good while ago, I went to Twilight with that kind of question. She told me - "Si vis pacem, para bellum.". It means - if you want peace, prepare for war. There`s a good reason why Equestria is such a peaceful country, and it`s not just because we`re governed by goddesses. No, it`s because Equestria was always ready to fight, if it came to it. We normally loathe conflict, it`s not in our nature. But we`re ready to step up and buck down any moron who thinks we`re an easy prey. And if it falls to me to deliver the buck? I don`t like doing that, but I like Equestria. Above all else, I`m loyal to my country, my land, my people. So I will do whatever is necessary to protect us.