Applejack slowly picked at her breakfast. Last night, after spending a quarter of an hour being confused by Rainbow Dash and Captain Sentry discussing various defensive stratagems for the city, she had given up and retired to a very luxurious guest bedroom. But she was still too saddened by the loss of Apple Bloom to have slept well. She now sat in Duchess Coloratura’s personal dining hall, picking slowly at a delicious meal of pancakes with berries and cream.
“Morning, AJ,” greeted Coloratura, walking into the dining hall.
“Hm? Oh, hey there Rara,” replied Applejack.
“Sleep badly?”
“Mhm.”
Coloratura moved to Applejack’s side and put a foreleg over her shoulders. “I miss her too, AJ. But you still have your brother, and Scootaloo.”
“I know, Rara,” replied Applejack, leaning into Coloratura’s embrace. “It’s just… it only happened yesterday. I’ll need some time is all.”
“I understand,” Coloratura said. After giving Applejack one last squeeze, she gathered some food for her own breakfast and began to tuck in. “At least Captain Sentry finally managed to put together a battle plan. Our soldiers are moving back over the bridge right now, ready to hold back the griffons at Fort Eyrie.”
Applejack raised her head and looked at her friend. “Can’t them griffons just fly around the fortress and over the canal?”
“Not if they’re wearing armour,” replied Coloratura. “If they try fighting without it, then they’ll have no protection beyond their own fur and feathers, going up against fully armoured ponies. So they probably won’t want to do that. And don’t forget that they can’t windcraft, so they have to carry all their weight with their wings. They can’t carry much extra beyond their own bodies, so full body armour is just too much for them.”
“Especially if we have windcraftin’ ponies on this side stirrin’ up the breeze,” mused Applejack.
“Exactly,” Coloratura said. “That’s why I’ve asked any windcrafting citizens to help out. Not so much with the actual fighting, since most of them are just civilians with no combat training, but any windcrafter can whip up some turbulent airflow. The griffons might try sending a few over with nothing but a spear or sword or whatever, but our windcrafters should be able to keep them from making it to this side.”
“What about that airship?” asked Applejack. “How’re we gonna deal with them pirates?”
“That’s where the wind knights come in,” said Coloratura. “After the way you and Rainbow Dash cut their envelope yesterday, Flash decided his dozen wind knights should be able to do it again today.”
“Trouble is, what if we bring ‘em down too close to the battle?” Applejack wondered. “Then most of their crafters’d get in on the fightin’ anyways.”
“I admit, it’s not a perfect battle plan,” replied Coloratura. “But considering we only found out we were going to be attacked last night, it’s the best we could do.”
“I suppose,” said Applejack. “Well, if you need any more woodcrafters for anythin’, let me know. It’s them pirates and griffons that made AB run into that jungle, so I ain’t gonna let ‘em win.”
“Well, maybe you can help with the makeshift barricades we’re putting up along the edge of the canal, for the windcrafters to shelter behind. After you’ve eaten,” Coloratura said, putting emphasis on the last sentence.
“Heh. Alright, I’m eatin’, I’m eatin’,” said Applejack, finally digging into her meal in earnest.
The sun was high in the sky and Rainbow Dash circled high over the inner city, watching the preparations underway. She spotted Applejack and Scootaloo working with a few other ponies, building barricades for ponies to shelter behind along the edge of the cliffs. Applejack was woodcrafting the barriers into place, while Scootaloo was creating furylamp spotlights which would be used for searching for airborne griffons.
Looking eastwards, she watched several earthcrafters working on Cliffside Bridge. They were divided up into two groups. One group, comprised entirely of Cliffside Eyrie earth knights, would trot along the bridge a few dozen ponylengths before pausing. They would tap their hooves on the road a few times before stomping in unison, then move on and repeat the process further along the bridge.
The second group, which included Big Macintosh and was apparently led by Captain Flash Sentry, were all gathered at the city end of the bridge, and were all tapping the ground seemingly at random intervals. Rainbow Dash swooped down to them, flaring her wings and willing Tank to fill them just in time to make a safe landing.
“Hey guys,” she said.
“Rainbow,” said Big Macintosh, still tapping the ground.
“What are you doing?” asked Rainbow.
“Breaking the bridge,” Big Macintosh replied.
Rainbow blinked. “Umm…”
With a chuckle, Flash Sentry explained further. “We’re preparing the bridge to be broken, in case the fortress is overrun. It’s reinforced with earth furies, to strengthen it and make it harder to break. So we’re undoing some of those craftings so that if it comes to it we can cut it quickly. Not all of them, of course, but enough to speed things along if it comes to it.”
“That makes more sense,” replied Rainbow, nodding in understanding. “So what about those guys?” she asked, pointing a wing out at the other group, now about halfway along the bridge.
“Hmm? Oh, they’re setting up defensive blockades to try to slow the griffons down if they make it to the bridge,” said Flash.
Rainbow watched as the group stomped in place, before moving further along the bridge. She glanced along the span behind them, noting that the road surface seemed as unblockaded as ever. “And where exactly are these blockades?”
“The hardest part of making rock structures is shaping the stone,” explained Flash. “That’s what they’re doing now. But nopony said that they had to raise them to the surface as soon as they’re ready. It’s actually pretty easy for an earthcrafter to raise an existing structure up to the surface, so we’re keeping the barricades below the surface for now, to keep the road clear until we need it not to be.”
“Oh, I get it,” said Rainbow. “So we can still send reinforcements along the bridge if we need to, and they won’t be slowed down trying to get through a whole bunch of walls in the road.”
“Exactly,” Flash said. “And if our troops do have to retreat from the fort, they can simply run straight down the bridge and bring up the barriers behind them.”
“Huh. Cool,” said Rainbow.
“Aaand… we’re done,” said Flash with a final stomp. “Just in time for lunch. Will you be joining us, Auditor?”
“I’m not an Auditor yet,” replied Rainbow, “but sure, why not? A filly’s gotta eat.”
Rainbow joined the group of soldiers on their way to the Ducal Manor in search of food.
After lunch, Rainbow flew across the canal to Fort Eyrie. During the meal, Duchess Coloratura had found Rainbow and asked her to check on the preparations underway at the fortress, before being called away on some matter of logistics. So Rainbow had dutifully stuffed her face with the remainder of lunch and set off.
She started by getting a windcrafter’s-eye-view of the fortress and its surrounding lands. From above, the fortress’ outer walls had a trapezoidal shape, with the wide base set flush against the cliffside and Cliffside Bridge ending right in the middle. The narrow top of the trapezoid was facing slightly north of due west, and the corners were topped with long bastions. Rainbow could see that any griffons that managed to make it to the base of the fortress walls would be in clear view of pony defenders safely concealed behind the narrow arrow slits arrayed on the walls or the crenelations of the roof, and thus vulnerable to attack.
The area around the fortress, for a distance significantly wider than even the best woodcrafter’s bowshot, had been cleared of plants more substantial than short grass, and shaped by earthcrafters such that Fort Eyrie sat atop a rise. For anyone to attack the fortress, they would have to come uphill with no cover, giving the defenders the dual advantages of elevation and clear lines of fire. Rainbow watched as a handful of ponies cantered about here and there in the empty fields, crafting down a slight bump in the ground here, uprooting a small bush there. Rainbow nodded in approval before diving into the fortress proper.
Inside the fortress outer walls resided the keep, almost a fortress in it’s own right. Tall, square, and imposing, the keep would cover the path to the bridge in the unlikely event that the outer walls were overrun by griffons. The top level of the keep was wider than the lower floors, giving those on the top floor a clear view of the base of the keep walls through murder holes, leaving invaders no cover from defensive furycraft. Rainbow circled the keep before swooping up to the roof, landing on all four hooves.
From here, Rainbow had clear view of the entire field around the fortress, with plenty of cover provided by stone crenelations. Glancing around the rooftop, she saw numerous weapons racks and arrow quivers, most fully stocked. A pair of ponies came up the stairs with a bundle of spears and another quiver of arrows, and quickly set the weapons in place ready for use.
“Hey guys,” said Rainbow. “Who’s in charge here, and where can I find them?”
The weapons bearers glanced over at Rainbow, before one of them spoke. “Earth Knight Solid Stance is in command of the fortress. Her office is down three floors, second door on the left.”
“Thanks,” replied Rainbow and set off into the keep. Along the way she saw more ponies carrying weapons and other supplies around, setting them in position ready for use later in the evening.
Quickly finding the office, she knocked on the door and was admitted in. “Knight Solid Stance?” she asked.
“That’s me,” replied the occupant. She was a brown-coated unicorn, leaning over her desk looking at a map of the fortress and surrounding area. The map had small figurines placed here and there on it, indicating the location of various troop positions. “Can I help you?”
“I’m Rainbow Dash. Duchess Coloratura asked me to come over here and check up on how the preparations are coming,” said Rainbow.
“We’re working on it,” said Solid. “I’ve got earth and woodcrafter teams working out in the field, smoothing it over and setting up some pit traps, that sort of thing.”
“Yeah, I saw them at it as I flew over,” noted Rainbow. “And I saw a whole bunch of ponies carrying supplies all over the place. It looks like you’ll be all sorted by this evening. I don’t want to step on your hooves, but the duchess asked me to go over all your plans.”
Solid Stance chuckled at that. “Oh, don’t worry about stepping on my hooves,” she said. “I could use a fresh pair of eyes with this, actually. I’d hate to miss something obvious and see the city overrun.”
“Alright then,” said Rainbow. “In that case, can we start with the pit traps?”
“The pit traps? What about them?” asked Stance.
“Well, they’re pit traps,” Rainbow said. “And who’s gonna be falling into them?”
“Griffons,” said Solid Stance, raising an eyebrow.
“Right. And griffons have…” Rainbow said, pointedly flapping her wings.
“Wings?” Stance replied. “What’s your… Oh. Right. Hmm. One moment, please.” She stepped to her door and poked her head out, calling for somepony to come and join them. Shaking her head on her way to her desk, she spoke again to Rainbow. “Good thing you came here, hey?”
Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, Rainbow asked, “So what’s the plan for those traps now?”
“You’re a flyer, what would you recommend?” said Solid.
“Spikes in the pits,” replied Rainbow. “Metalcrafted would be best, but you probably don’t have enough metal for that. So go with earthcrafted stone. The giffons’ll fall in and hurt themselves on the spikes before they know what’s happening. They’ll slow down to help their wounded and make their way around the traps, making our jobs that much easier.”
“Good idea,” agreed Solid Stance. When the pony she had called for arrived, she told him to instruct the earthcrafters to prepare spikes in the pit traps, then return as quickly as possible. “Just in case there’s anything else I’ve missed.”
Rainbow looked over the map, noting the locations of firecrafters and bowponies. “You’re putting your wood and fire knights on the rooftops?”
“Yes. They’ll have a better view of the area than from inside the walls,” Solid said. “So we can make the best possible use out of them. The wood and fire crafters who aren’t at knight level I have inside the walls, covering the area immediately around the fort.”
“That’s good, but I’d suggest spreading the knights out a bit more,” said Rainbow. “Gives us that much more area covered, and makes it harder to take out all of our heavy hitters at once.”
“Hmm.” Solid Stance looked over the map for a moment, before using her hooves to push around some of the figurines. “How’s that look?”
“Better, but maybe move a few out to the limits of the bastions, cover even more ground,” Rainbow suggested. She flicked her wings and made an effort of furycrafting will, causing Tank to push a few figurines around on the map. “Like that.”
“And from there they can even cover the base of the walls if it comes to that,” said Solid. “I like the way you think.” She and Rainbow leaned over the map and considered several possible plans, continuing to discuss the matter as the afternoon wore on.