“All soldiers off the walls, to the bridge!” cried Captain Sentry. “All fire knights to throw fire blasts at the griffon forces on the bridge! Slow them down as much as possible!”
While Scootaloo started sending signal flares, Rainbow watched over a dozen ponies on the roofs of the fortress outer walls make their way to the west wall and throw flames at the bridge. The griffon troops scattered in the fiery onslaught, some unlucky enough to be blown off the bridge altogether. In the chaotic windflow the city’s windcrafters had crafted up, it was impossible for the heavily-armoured griffons to fly, and they all fell into the canal. Most quickly sank out of sight, pulled down by the weight of their armour, never to be seen again.
“Our ponies won’t even get past the first barricade without help,” said Solid. She crouched down, before launching herself into the air in a spectacular earthcraft-assisted standing leap. She cleared not only the keep roof, but soared over the western wall of Fort Eyrie, to land safely on Cliffside Bridge.
The soldiers from within the fort had finally made their way to the bridge, and they followed Earth Knight Solid Stance as she led the charge along the bridge. Solid kicked at the barricades as she went, opening gaps through which the soldiers could gallop, until they met the griffon troops at the fourth barricade from the fortress.
“Rainbow, I need you to check the tree line,” said Captain Sentry. “We can’t afford to leave our backs exposed if there’s another army back there.”
“On it!” said Rainbow, leaping into the air and willing Tank to her wings. She went north to the end of the cleared field around the fortress, and wove her way east then south through the trees looking for signs of griffon troops. Finally she rounded her way back west, having found nothing, and zoomed straight up and looked toward the sea for any signs of more ships approaching. Finding nothing but clouds coming in from the east, she returned to the roof of the keep of Fort Eyrie. “Nothing in the trees, skies, or seas,” she reported.
“Good,” said Duchess Coloratura. “For now, stay here and make sure no griffons try to fly up here.”
“But Octavia-” began Rainbow, only to be interrupted by Coloratura.
“Octavia is on the bridge, with no ‘underground’ to disappear into, with our soldiers one way and our militia the other,” said the duchess. “She’s not going anywhere for now.”
“Scootaloo, signal our wind knights,” ordered Sentry. “Attack the airship.”
“Right,” muttered Scootaloo. “Wind knights, attack, airship. Um, oh right!” She flared her wings and sent up four coloured flares, one after another. She was rewarded with the sound of a dozen windstreams carrying their crafters into the air.
The wind knights approached the airship, but were met by Soaring Scavenger’s own windcrafters, with support from mercenary firecrafters waiting atop the airship’s envelope. The skies lit up with flames as the fight began in earnest.
Coloratura called up a farseeing windcrafting and focused on the fight taking place in the city between the griffons and the city militia. The griffons were winning, pushing back the militia despite the disadvantage of not being able to counter the Poneran’s furycraft. Coloratura glanced down at the bridge, checking that the soldiers there had things in hoof. “Captain, I think we should help the militia.”
Flash looked around at the various battle fronts. “You’re right, your grace. There’s not much point holding the fortress if the city itself falls.”
“We’ll come with you, your grace,” said Rainbow. “Squirt, mount up.”
Coloratura looked at Rainbow, glancing pointedly at Scootaloo. Rainbow raised an eyebrow before giving a single nod of her head. “Rainbow, you and Scootaloo should keep in the air over there,” suggested the duchess. “Maintain air superiority, keep the griffons from overrunning us from above.”
“Got it,” said Rainbow, Scootaloo settling in on her back. Rainbow then leapt into the air, followed by Coloratura. The duchess looped back to scoop up Captain Flash Sentry, before they set off across the canal. Rainbow willed Tank to hide herself and her passenger from view, before flying alongside the bridge. On the way they passed Octavia, and Scootaloo let loose a blast of fire which Rainbow enhanced with a burst of wind, engulfing the earth pony mare in flames for the fourth time in two days.
With Octavia’s shrieks of pain and surprise fading away behind them, Rainbow and Scootaloo arrived at the battle in the streets of Cliffside Eyrie. Duchess Coloratura and Captain Sentry had already arrived and were in the process of rallying the Poneran forces against the griffon troops. Spotting a griffon spreading his wings, Rainbow sent a twirling gust of wind at him that spun him about and drove him face-first into the side of the nearest building.
Rainbow and Scootaloo circled the battle, sending gusts of wind and blades of fire at griffons trying to take to the skies. Meanwhile, Coloratura and Flash Sentry focused on their earth crafting, making the ground beneath the griffons shake and shudder. Big Macintosh joined in, turning the street into loose sand and letting the griffons sink in to their ankles. The griffons realised what was happening, and though most of them managed to pull themselves out of the gravel before Big Macintosh let it resolidify, some were still trapped.
The militia, emboldened by the sudden appearance of their duchess and the sight of the griffons being made to trip and stumble about, rallied and pushed back. Applejack gestured at a nearby picket fence, sending several wooden pickets flying at a griffon, wrapping around his limbs and holding him in place. Several woodcrafting citizens followed suit, trapping a dozen or so griffons on the spot.
A few of the citizens were metalcrafters, who took inspiration from their woodcrafting fellows and exerted their craft on the armour worn by the griffons. Unlike a woodcrafter, metalcrafters had to be much closer to metal to work their craft, but that didn’t stop a trio of metalcrafter ponies acting in concert to swarm the nearest griffon. The various armour plates worn by the griffon twisted and flexed, joining up to each other before locking together and immobilising the griffon in place.
The militia pushed the griffons further and further back, until they reached the bridge. Here, the mercenary ponies from Soaring Scavenger joined up with the griffons and lent their own furycraft to the battle. The militia ponies suddenly found that their craftings against the griffon forces were being countered, and their confidence was shattered. They began to fall back as the griffons pushed back with the aid of their mercenary allies.
Rainbow watched the militia begin to buckle under the pressure of the fight. “Uh-oh. They’re about to rout!”
“What does that mean?” asked Scootaloo.
“The militia is about to stop fighting and run away,” explained Rainbow. “When the pirates got in on the fighting, our ponies got spooked. They’re gonna break any minute now!”
“We’ve gotta do something!” Scootaloo cried.
Rainbow zipped to Coloratura’s side and landed. “Duchess, they’re about to break. Follow my lead,” Rainbow said, flaring her wings. She felt Scootaloo slide off her back, and called upon Tank to send forth a strong gust of wind directly at the griffons. Coloratura joined in, and their combined efforts were enough to stop the enemy forces in their tracks. The militia ponies cheered, and pushed back at the griffons again.
Scootaloo rushed over to Applejack and Big Macintosh. “AJ! Big Mac! Are you OK?”
“Hey Scoots,” greeted Applejack. “We’re fine, now that Rara’s joined us. Where the hay did all these here griffons come from anyway? Weren’t they supposed to be on the other side o’ the canal?”
“They came out of a couple of ships in the harbour,” said Scootaloo, slinging a few flame blades at the griffons. “There’s no griffons at all on the other side of the fort.”
“Well, they certainly caught us on our back hoof,” Applejack said, sending some planks of wood to entangle the legs of a griffon trying to close in on the wind powerhouses that were Rainbow and Coloratura. “Where’s the rest of the soldiers?”
“Fighting the griffons on the bridge,” said Scootaloo. “Or fighting the pirate’s airship.”
“I see,” said Applejack, glancing up at the sky and spotting the battle around the airship silhouetted against the clouds rolling in from the east. “I guess we’re on our own for the moment, then.”
“Eeyup,” agreed Big Macintosh. He whirled on the spot and delivered a solid earthcraft-strengthened buck to the armoured side of a griffon soldier, denting his breastplate and breaking some ribs with the force of the blow. The griffon fell back, wheezing in agony.
Scootaloo followed up with several blasts of fire, pushing back the griffons in the immediate area and allowing the militia to reclaim some lost ground. Suddenly, an unarmoured griffon fell from the sky to land directly in front of Scootaloo. He reared up on his hind legs and slashed at Scootaloo with his talons.
Scootaloo backed up in shock and fear. She flared her wings and instinctively called on Elizabeak. The flames of Scootaloo’s fire fury filled her wings, turning them into blazing beacons. Startled as she was at the sudden appearance of the griffon, Scootaloo didn’t realise she was pushing her fear into her crafting. Elizabeak in turn pushed that fear out, inciting terror in the griffon facing Scootaloo.
The griffon, suddenly gripped by extreme terror, also reacted on instinct. He shrieked and flared his wings, trying to scare off his terrifying, if terrified, opponent. Scootaloo, in turn, became even more scared and continued to push that fear into her firecrafting.
This cycle continued, each scaring the other more and more deeply, until Big Macintosh fought through the induced terror and attacked the griffon. First, he crafted the ground beneath the griffon to allow him to sink to his knees and trapped him there. Next, he delivered a withering uppercut to the beak of the griffon, knocking him out cold.
Scootaloo, seeing the griffon go down, was finally able to get her crafting back under control. “Sorry about that,” she panted. “I think I got a little carried away, there.”
Applejack looked around, noting that the griffons in the immediate vicinity had fallen back from the terror. “Actually, Scoots, do you think you can do that again?”
“Maybe,” said Scootaloo. “Probably not that strongly, but I think I can do it.”
Scootaloo willed Elizabeak to her wings again, and focused on fear. She pushed her fear into the flames and forwards, at the griffons. Scootaloo stepped up in between Rainbow Dash and Coloratura, who were both still pushing wind at the griffons, though both were beginning to weaken.
Coloratura, seeing what Scootaloo was doing, decided to try the opposite. Wreathing herself in flame, the duchess firecrafted courage at the militia forces behind her. The Poneran citizens suddenly felt braver than they ever had before.
“For Ponera!” they cried as they surged forward, quickly overwhelming the fearful griffons and their mercenary allies. Coloratura and Scootaloo kept up, directing bravery and terror respectively. The griffons had no firecrafter mercenaries with them to counter Scootaloo’s crafting, and so, overcome with terror and being beaten back by bold furycrafting ponies, they broke and ran for the bridge.
The militia cheered when the griffons fell back, congratulating each other on a battle well fought. The cheers stopped when they saw the pirate firecrafters on the bridge join up with the griffons and finally countercraft Scootaloo’s fear firecrafting. The griffons gathered themselves, readying themselves to begin the battle anew.
“Well, that’s not good,” said Coloratura.
Rainbow Dash looked at Soaring Scavenger, which still held position above and just to the north side of the bridge. It’s envelope appeared intact, and the air around it was filled with wind knights and fire blasts, the battle for the skies still ongoing. “That’s not much better,” she said.
Scootaloo sought out the troops trying to reach the city from Fort Eyrie. She spotted them halfway along, held back by a force of griffons and a pair of spear-wielding twin ponies at the centremost earthcrafted barrier. They were under fire from bowponies and firecrafters on the deck of Soaring Scavenger. “Looks like our soldiers won’t get here anytime soon either,” Scootaloo noted. “We’re not gonna win this, are we?”
Suddenly, the air was filled with the shrieking war cries of a large number of griffons, and another army of the creatures dove down from the clouds.