The sun had long since set below the horizon and darkness had consumed the border region between Equestria and the Griffon kingdoms. The border was marked by a mountain range that ran across the length of the continent from the Shining Sea in the west to the Jewel Sea in the east.
Lieutenant Krous stood on the deck of the small airship and leant against the side rail, listening to the soft thrum of the engines below deck and watching his breath turn into fog before his face. It was bitter cold at this altitude, and he was glad that he and his troops had been equipped for winter combat. His greatcoat was definitely seeing its share of work. Behind him on a slightly raised area stood Cruiser, reading a map and occasionally adjusting their course using a large wheel.
“So, how exactly will this plan work?” Cruiser asked. “I wasn’t exactly given the full details before we left.”
Krous turned to face him. “The plan is simple. When we reach the griffon capital you will set the airship to hover high above the citadel. My men and I will then jump and use the parachutes to land on the roof of the citadel. We will deal with any guards, and then move into the castle itself. We will locate the Princess and bring her to the roof. We will then send a signal to you, you will fly the airship down and we will evacuate, hopefully before anyone notices.”
Cruiser considered the plan. “It’s risky.” He said. “Remember, this thing isn’t a battleship, it’s an air balloon. We take too many arrows or one hit from an artillery piece and our mission is over.”
“If our luck holds they won’t detect us until we’re already out of artillery range, and we have enough firepower to deal with any who try to give chase.” Krous said. Cruiser shrugged and went back to reading his map.
Krous looked down over the edge of the airship’s carrying section and saw that they were starting to leave the mountains behind. Below were rolling foothills, stretching out to a plain in the distance. A large cluster of lights off to one side caught his attention. It looked like a large town nestled amongst the foothills. “What town is that?” He asked.
“Town?” Cruiser moved away from the wheel and over to the rail to look. “There’s no towns in this area…” And yet the lights were clearly visible. He frowned and headed back to his map to check their position.
Krous took a set of field binoculars from a holder on his side and looked out at the lights. With the increased magnification he was able to make out more details, in particular that what he had first thought was a very well lit road leading into the town was actually a large number of individual lights, and they were moving. “That isn’t a town.” He said. “It’s a military encampment.”
Chaser came back to the rail with a spyglass and looked in the same direction. “That’s enormous...” He said with a hint of disbelief.
“Based on what I can see, I’d say that camp is big enough to hold somewhere between 60 000 and 80 000 soldiers.” Krous lowered the binoculars. “They’ll sweep the Equestrian army aside like toys. A literal wave of steel.”
“How can we expect to stop that?” Cruiser asked. “The Equestrian military is only 6000 ponies strong, less than a 10th of that at best.”
“We won’t be able to win a war of attrition.” Krous said. “Can we send a message to Canterlot, let them know what’s coming?”
Cruiser shook his head. “No. The teleport spell on magic scrolls has a limited range. From here we’d be lucky to get one as far as Stalliongrad let alone Canterlot.”
Krous sighed explosively. “Then we proceed with our mission. Douse all lights so we don’t risk getting spotted by patrols.”
A band of dark cloud loomed ahead of them. “Rain squalls.” Said Cruiser. “They’ll give us good cover, for a while at any rate.”
Krous nodded. “Very well, make best speed for Gryphus.”
CANTERLOT
A secondary dining room underneath the eastern wing of Canterlot castle had been rapidly transformed in the last few hours. The usual long table and chairs were gone, replaced with a single table with a large map in the center. Smaller desks were being set up along the walls for communications unicorns to sit at, and space was being cleared for a set of small sleeping quarters for those staff who would be spending many long nights here.
Schlesinger stood at the map table alongside 3 pony generals, looking down at the northern half of Equestria. The generals were all newly minted as the highest ranking officer in the Equestrian military in peacetime was a Captain. Even so, Equestria’s high command was seriously lacking in qualified officers.
General Iron Heart, former Captain of the Pegasus lancer corps, looked down and studied the map. “It makes the most sense that they will attack through Pellew pass. He pointed down at a place on the map between two mountain chains marked by a fortress image. “It’s the only land route into Equestria from the north without risking the mountain passes, and it’s heavily fortified so they’ll have no fear of ambush.”
“Why don’t they just fly over?” Schlesinger asked. “They’re griffons, they have wings don’t they?”
“They do.” Said General Steel Sing, former Captain of the artillery corp. “But they won’t fly over for three reasons. The first is that the griffons have a very over inflated sense of honor. They have to prove their valor in combat and charging over open ground is a lot more honorable than dropping down out of the sky. Second is tactics. They only allow designated flying units to fly during battle. If every griffon was airborne it would just be a mess of feathers and fur. They wouldn’t be able to maneuver easily and unit cohesion would be lost. Third is anti air artillery. Basically cannon loaded with a type of shell that explodes and sprays shrapnel. It can kill a whole airborne platoon, and a battery of them could completely destroy an airborne army.”
Schlesinger nodded. “How many troops can we expect them to have?”
The third general, head of the intelligence corps, Blank Slate, tapped the map. “Our best estimates suggest no more than seven to ten thousand troops. Artillery should be minimal.” He said. “The Griffon Kingdoms are a fractious lot at the best of times, and with a new High King on the throne it’s unlikely that they would be eager to cooperate with each other.”
“That means we’ll be outnumbered by at least 1000 troops. What reserves do we have?” Schlesinger asked.
“Two companies of Royal Guard shock troops comprised of 300 ponies, and the naval infantry corps, which is another 400, give or take.” Steel Sing said.
“6700 against 7 to 10 000.” Schlesinger said, rubbing his chin and thinking. “This won’t be easy.”
“What of the weapons you brought with you?” Iron Heart asked. “Surely if they hold the power that you claim, no army can stand against us.”
“True.” Said Schlesinger, moving over to a window and looking out at the night sky. “But our weapons require significant amounts of ammunition, and we only brought a limited supply. Our vehicles also have very limited fuel, so they will have to be used sparingly until we can find a way to produce some, if we actually can.”
The doors at the end of the room opened silently and Princess Celestia appeared, causing all the ponies to pause what they were doing and bow to her before continuing with their work. She looked gaunter than the last time Schlesinger had seen her. The normal bounce in her gait was gone, and her gentle smile had been replaced with a look of stern determination. She slowly trotted up to the map table and faced the three generals.
“How go the preparations?” She asked, looking down at the table and noting the current lack of any figurines to represent troop movements.
Blank Slate bowed. “Your highness, the regular army is in position and building defenses and the Guard is mobilizing in reserve. The naval infantry will also be available to us until the fleet can be put to sea, at which point they will be needed elsewhere. Our intelligence suggests that the enemy may outnumber us by at least 1000 troops, so I would suggest sending out word to the town and city mayors to start organizing militia forces to form our strategic reserve.”
Celestia straightened at the mention of militia. “What you suggest is most extreme general.” She said. “A volunteer militia would not stand much of a chance against the battle hardened Griffon army. I fear what you suggest may result in simple slaughter.”
“But we do not have a great deal of choice.” Schlesinger said, stepping away from the window and moving back to the table. “If the regular army is defeated, then we will have only a token force protecting the rest of the nation. A militia would give us a fighting chance at the very least. In the best case scenario, the regular army will win and we won’t need them. Worse case, they’ll have to fight, just like the rest of us.”
Celestia sighed. “Very well. When the declaration arrives I shall include a call to arms in my address to my ponies. I leave it to you to determine the best way to organize, train and equip them.”
“That is another concern.” Schlesinger said. “The shortage of weapons. Equestria has a grand total of 8 artillery pieces, nowhere near enough, and there appears to be a massive shortage of armour and hand… er, hoof held weapons. The reserve is barely enough to equip a company, let alone the numbers of troops we will need. Why is there so little surplus?”
Celestia shook her head. “The industries that produce such equipment are few indeed. You must understand that Equestria has not seen a war in more than 700 years. We only produce enough to maintain what forces we have. I am working on a plan to convert various industries to aid the war effort, but it will take time to retool them to create weapons. For now we’ll just have to spread around what we have and make do.”
Schlesinger sighed and leant against the table. “Short on supplies, outnumbered and outgunned. It’s like Kursk all over again.” He stood up. “Any news from the covert team?”
Celestia shook her head again. “No. They’re out of contact range for message scrolls. I am concerned that the griffons may try to spin this as an unprovoked act of aggression though.”
Schlesinger shook his head. “They won’t. They’ve already given us too much evidence to the contrary.” He glanced out the window again. “With any luck, they’ll slip in unnoticed and get out again without causing too much trouble.”
GRYPHUS: Capital of the Griffon Empire
A steady rain drizzled down from the sky, spattering against the frame of the airship and tinkling softly against the stahlhelms of the men standing on deck. Their dark grey uniforms blended in against the background clouds, the only noticeable sign of them being their breath, which billowed white in the frigid air. Each man wore a backpack containing his parachute.
Far below lay the sprawling capital of the Griffon Empire. Built against a towering mountain range and encircled by a high wall the suburbs of the major city stretched out from the interior for several miles to the south, east, and west. Further in was the inner city, divided from the suburbs by a second wall to mark the border between the aristocrats and the regular citizens.
The castle at the city’s ‘center’ was an imposing structure. Built atop a low rise it bristled with watch towers and heavy guns aimed out towards the city. Small specks of light moving about marked the locations of sentries doing their rounds. So far, the airship had remained unspotted, concealed in the cloud layer directly above the keep. How long that would last was anybody’s guess.
Krous approached, wearing a chute backpack of his own and with his usual cloth hat replaced by a helmet. “Alright.” He said. “When we jump, aim for the keep. We will land on the main roof and remove any sentries, preferably quietly. Four men will remain on the roof to secure it as a landing zone for the airship. When we rescue the Princess we will fall back to the roof and make a fast exit. Stick to knives and entrenching tools only, no bullets or explosives unless they raise the alarm, in which case weapons free.”
He stepped up to the rail and glanced back at Cruiser. “You know the signal for pickup.”
“The flare.” Cruiser replied, holding the airship steady. “Good luck down there.”
Krous nodded and looked down at the massive drop below him and at the citadel far below. “This is why I signed up for the panzers.” He muttered, pulling a set of goggles down over his eyes. “Let’s go.” He let himself fall forwards and suddenly the air around him turned into a hurricane, ripping at his clothing and weapons. Around him, the dark shapes of the rest of his platoon fell alongside him, heading aiming for the castle.
A few hundred meters above the roof he yanked the cord on his pack and the fabric rushed out, unfurling with a solid sounding ‘whump’ and slowing his descent from a rush to a crawl. He could just about see the chutes of the rest of his squad, but didn’t have time to count them, the roof was coming up fast. He bent his legs and prepared for impact.
On the roof below, the griffon Private Light Feather shook some rainwater out of his fur and shivered softly. Being a guard in the royal castle was supposed to be a prestigious job, but he always seemed to draw the short straw, being assigned the worst duties like guarding the castle lavatories or emptying the barracks laundry basket, or in this case, standing about in the freezing rain.
There was a loud thud from behind him and he jumped, spinning around and grabbing his spear, almost knocking over his patrol lantern in the process. Something had landed on the roof and appeared to be struggling beneath a mass of fabric. He began to approach cautiously, wondering whether or not he should raise the alarm. He wouldn’t get to make the decision.
Something lunged at him from the darkness and he barely had time to give a small squawk of surprise before a metal object smashed into the side of his head and he hit the floor like a rock, unconscious and badly concussed.
Krous struggled out from under his chute and noted that Private Brandt had landed slightly before him and had already pounced on a sentry with a shovel. On the other side of the roof, a second sentry lay bleeding from a gash across the front of his neck, his body twitched as his life drained away. The squad of humans regrouped in the middle of the roof and began to check their weapons. Most of the men had rifles, but there was also two STG-44s, an MG-34, a scoped Gewher 43 and Krous’s MP-40.
He pointed to two rifleman, the sniper and the machine gunner. “You four, hold the roof and scope out any artillery positions that have a clear line of fire to the roof. If they raise the alarm, try to neutralize the crews so the airship can land.” The four men murmured acknowledgements and moved off to different corners of the roof.
“The rest of you, with me. Let’s move.” Krous lead them over to a small raised doorway that lead into the keep itself. He had his men stack up on either side of the doorway and cracked it open slightly to peer inside. He could make out a staircase heading down to another door below and no sign of any guards or sentries. He pulled the door open fully and the men filed in, the door closing silently behind them. Beyond the door at the bottom of the stairs was a carpeted hallway lined with artwork. Torches burned in braziers spaced evenly along the walls, lighting the way forwards.
Krous paused and had his men seek shelter in small alcoves along the walls that contained various busts of griffon leaders. He fished a slightly damp piece of paper out of his pocket and opened it. It was a copy of a map that showed the layout of the castle. The only problem was that the original copy had been pilfered almost 200 years earlier, and the castle had been modified over time, so it wasn’t exactly accurate.
The Princess was likely being held in the castle dungeon, but unlike a normal castle where the dungeon would be underneath the citadel, this one had the dungeon buried deep inside the mountain to which the castle was built against. According to the map, they would have to go along this corridor, drop down two stories and then down a long staircase to get to it. He put the map away and signaled for his men to move, quietly.
The squad proceeded forwards, scanning left and right with their weapons and pausing to listen at each door they passed. At some they heard nothing, others there was muffled talking and laughing. The griffons obviously weren’t expecting an infiltration into the heart of their capital, which also explained the lack of sentries inside the walls. They reached the end of the hall undisturbed and located a spiral stairwell that lead downwards for several stories. They dropped two floors and paused at another door. They could hear voices on the other side, at a constant level which meant they weren’t moving closer or getting further away. Sentries.
That complicated things. Krous signaled his men to remain silent and pushed the door open a crack to peer through. He could see a griffon’s hindquarters just to the right of the door, and from the way it was facing, he was talking to someone to his left. He inched the door shut again. A grenade could sort this problem easily. The only problem was that it would bring every guard in the castle down on them as well. They would have to do this the old fashioned way, close quarters and quietly. He indicated two of his men and made a stabbing motion. They nodded and produced bayonets from their belts, attaching them to their rifles. One took position to the side of the door, the other on the far side of the stairwell.
Krous counted down on his fingers, 3, 2, 1. The man across the corridor charged and slammed into the slightly ajar door, smashing it open and crushing the guard on the right against the wall. Before the second guard could realize what was happening the second man stepped into the doorway and jammed his rifle into the griffon’s neck. He gave it a sharp twist, and then yanked it out, leaving the griffon to collapse and convulse on the floor. He pivoted to deal with the second griffon, but it was clear he was already gone. The impact from the door slamming open had crushed him into the wall and bent his neck at an odd angle. Even if he was still alive, he was in no position to sound an alarm.
Two more men pivoted into the hallway and scanned along its length with their rifles, but there was no one else in sight. “Move.” Krous said quietly, urging his squad into the corridor. They quickly dragged the bodies of the two sentries into an alcove before quick marching down the hallway to its end. Here the hallway ended at an underground chasm with a single stairway leading across to another door some distance below. Water could be heard flowing at the bottom of the chasm, but its source was lost somewhere in the darkness.
Each step echoed softly as the mean moved down the stairs in double file, keeping close to the rails and well-spaced out in case of an ambush, but there was no sign of any further sentries and they made it to the lower door unseen. The hallway beyond smelled heavily of damp stone, but there was also the clear smell of urine and other bodily fluids. The air was heavy and still. The walls were lined with heavy wooden doors equipped with sliding grate peepholes. “Spread out.” Krous said. “Move along and check each cell.” Some of the men produced small flashlights and began to move along the walls, sliding open the peep holes and peering inside. The majority of the cells were empty, but…
One of the men gave a small whistle and signaled that he had located something in a cell halfway down the left side wall. Krous moved over and peered through the peephole. In the light of the flashlight he could just about make out the shape of an equine, lying on the floor and attempting to shy away from the door. “Open it up.” He said.
The man with the light pulled the locking pin out of the heavy steel lock and pulled the large handle towards him. There was a clank and the door swung outwards silently. Now with the extra light they could make out what was inside. It was a pony, but it wasn’t the one they were looking for. The earth pony mare dragged herself across the floor into a corner of the cell, squinting and looking away as she was blinded by the sudden light after having spent so long in darkness. “Please, don’t hurt me, anymore.” From the way her voice cracked at the end of the sentence it was clear she had broken into tears. “No more, no more.”
Krous quickly moved into the cell, shining his light a little lower to stop blinding the poor mare but so that he could still see her. “We’re not here to hurt you.” He said, crouching down slightly so he would be on her level if she had been standing. “We’re here to rescue you, Princess Celestia sent us.” The mare’s head snapped around and her large eyes snapped open. Then in an instant she was in motion. She had stumbled to her hooves and crossed the distance between them in a second, wrapping her forelegs around Krous’s midsection and burying her head in his greatcoat, sobbing. Krous froze for a moment, unsure how to react, then he started to softly stroke her back.
“Can you tell me who you are?” He asked. “Why you’re here?”
The mare’s large bloodshot eyes slowly looked up at him. “My name, is Silver Lining. Ambassador to the Griffon Kingdoms.” Her voice broke and she coughed. She sounded parched.
“Get me a canteen.” Krous hissed back at his men, still holding the mare close. Her position explained why she was here in the cells. A canteen was quickly passed forwards and he uncapped it, lowering it to the mare’s mouth. She took it and drank greedily, obviously savoring the taste. Once she had completely drained it she took a moment to compose herself before speaking again.
“They attacked the Embassy. The guards and the rest of the staff were taken to a work camp somewhere, but I was brought here. They wanted information, information that I, I didn’t have.” He voice quivered but she managed to keep herself together. “They beat me, and then they left me here to starve.” She looked him up and down slowly. “W, what are you exactly?”
Krous shook his head. “There isn’t much time. I’ll explain once we get you out of here. Can you walk properly?” The mare nodded. There was another soft whistle from somewhere further up the row of cells. “Stay here.” He said, backing out of the cell and headed further down the row to another cell that looked much more heavily fortified than the others. The door was solid, no bars and no windows. There wasn’t even a food slot.
“Is this it?” He asked, looking at the door and then up and down the rows of cells to see if there were any others like it. There weren’t.
“It has to be, sir.” Said the man who had located the door. “This is a high security cell, and there aren’t any other ones in this area.”
Krous nodded. “Open it.” The man reached over and pulled out two locking pins, then turned the massive locking mechanism a full 360 degrees. There was a loud clank as it disabled. The door slowly swung open, letting light into the pitch black cell. At first he thought it was empty, and then he saw something move slightly in the darkness near one of the walls, black on black. A flashlight beam shone into the cell and they got their first proper look.
Princess Luna lay on her side in the corner on a thin layer of foul smelling hay. Her fur was streaked with dirt and small bloody streaks from many small cuts. One foreleg was bent at an odd angle, and she had a chain around her neck that was secured to one wall. “She’s here.” Krous said. “Find something to use as a stretcher.”
He stepped into the cell, concerned at the fact that she hadn’t moved when the door had opened or light had been shone on her. “Princess Luna?” He asked softly, moving slightly closer to her.
She didn’t move, but her voice came from the darkness. “I will tell you nothing.” Her voice stumbled and cracked a few times just in that small sentence. She was clearly parched, beaten and bloodied, but they hadn’t broken her mind quite yet it seemed.
“We’re not griffons.” Krous said. “We’re here to get you out.”
Luna’s head slowly turned around to look to look and Krous got his first proper look at her. Her face was streaked with dirt and marks, some bruises. Blood had dribbled down from a cut above her right eye and formed a nasty streak down the side of her face. She had obviously been wearing some kind of makeup at some point, as her eyeliner had streaked down her face in strange patterns, either from tears or sweat. Her horn was a stump, but it appeared to be slowly starting to regrow. “You are not ponies.” She said, trying to swallow and coughing.
Krous quickly took a canteen and carried it over to her. “Drink.” He said, putting it to her lips. “Your sister Celestia sent us. We’re… mercenaries I guess.”
Luna finished drinking and looked at Krous. “But the griffons. They said they were going to invade, after they… executed me.”
“Equestria is ready to fight.” Krous said. “And I doubt her allies are going to stand idly by while this atrocity occurs. Kidnapping and torturing a visiting dignitary, it’s disgusting.” Two men came back into the cell, carrying with them a door that they had ripped from a storage room cupboard. It was long and wide enough for a pony to lie on, but narrow enough that it would fit up the stairs and through the hallways of the castle.
“Alright, we’re leaving.” Krous said. “Can you get onto the door?”
Luna shifted herself, wincing as her bent leg was disturbed. “My leg is broken, but I can move.” She said. She wiggled herself across the floor and rolled onto the stretcher/door. The two men bent and lifted it, testing the weight and making sure they could hold her. They nodded at Krous when they could.
Krous nodded. “Let’s go.” He gave a short whistle and his men filtered back from along the row of cells, one bringing along Silver Lining. He did a quick head count and nodded when all were present. “Now we…”
A griffon prison guard stepped around the corner of the cell block from a stairwell that no one had seen in the shadows, a steaming mug of something in one claw. He froze as he caught sight of all the beings in the cell row and they all saw him. There was a moment of confused silence, then the griffon opened his beak and gave a shrill cry, dropping the mug and reaching for a weapon at his side.
Two rifles cracked. A bullet pinged off the wall next to the griffon, showering shards of stone all over him. The second bullet struck him in the chest region, cutting off the shriek as the griffon found that he suddenly couldn’t breathe. He dropped to the floor.
For a moment the only sounds were the ringing of the cry and the two gunshots. Then there was another shriek from further away, followed by another. The alarm had been raised. “Schisse.” Krous cursed. “We’ve been discovered. Time to go loud. Move fast, kill anything that gets in our way. Go!”
All of the men broke into a run, jogging to back to the main entrance of the prison and the stairs over the ravine. By the time they reached it a pair of guards was already hurrying towards them from the opposite end, spears at the ready. Krous raised his machine gun and fired a quick burst, dispatching one of them while the heavier burst from an STG behind him finished the second. Both bodies tumbled off the stairs and down into the ravine.
As they burst back into the castle corridors they came face to face with a wall of griffons armed with crossbows filling the hallway, preparing for line fire. “Cover!” Krous shouted, diving into the cover of a doorway. His men followed suit, the ones carrying Luna staying behind the archway the lead onto the prison stairs. Silver cowered behind them.
“Grenades!” Krous shouted as a wall of crossbow bolts raced down the corridor and pinged off stone and wood. Two men near the front produced grenades and primed them, pulling the fuse wire and pivoting around their cover to hurl them towards the enemy. “Down!” Everyone ducked back. There was about a second of silence before the grenades detonated with a roar. “Go!”
Everyone broke from cover and moved forwards, those in the lead firing as they went. The few griffons who had survived the grenades were cut down in a storm of bullets. With the corridor now cleared, the rescuers moved onto the rounded stairwell and up two stories. The upper corridor was empty, the guards not having locked it down yet, after all, what kind of prisoner would try to escape to the roof. Common sense indicated the front door.
As they moved along towards the final stairwell back up to the roof, a door opened and an older griffon stepped out, almost bumping into Krous they were so close. He was too close to shoot, so Krous did the next best thing. He brought his weapon up and smashed it into the griffon’s beak. The MP-40 was a light weapon, but it was still made of metal and still hurt when it hit someone. The griffon clutched his beak and stumbled back, falling on his rump. It was then that Krous noticed that he was wearing some kind of uniform and had a chest covered in various medals.
Not that that made much different for what happened next. Krous charged forwards and drove a knee into the griffon’s face, knocking him back and onto the floor, out cold. He was in some kind of study with bookshelves lining the walls and a large table in the middle. Papers were scattered all over it, maps, diagrams, notes. He quickly put two and two together. A military officer, plus maps and notes equaled invasion plans. He quickly stepped up to the table and seized as much of it as he could, jamming it into the pockets of his great coat. This might come in handy.
By the time he got up to the roof the rest of the men were already there. One had lit the flare and tossed it into the center of the roof, its glow lighting up the surrounding area. Above, he could hear the thrumming of airship engines. But there was trouble all around. Lights were appearing all over the walls of the citadel as griffon troops rushed to their stations and artillery crews moved to man their guns. They knew they were under attack now.
His men had lined themselves up along the parapet and were firing down onto the lower ramparts, taking out the artillery crews before they could get their guns ready to open fire. A row of tracers shot down from the MG and cut down a squad of crossbowmen who were trying to lob arrows up onto the main roof. The airship finally dropped out of the cloud layer and rapidly descended down to the castle roof, landing with a solid thud of wood on stone. “Come on, move it!” Cruiser shouted from the deck. “They know we’re here now.”
The men carrying Luna were the first to board, followed by Silver Lining. Then the men along the parapet began to fall back one by one, climbing the airship’s makeshift boarding ramp and taking up positions on the deck. The last few men dashed from their positions and ran for the airship just as the roof access hatch burst open and dozens of griffon guards began to pour out, storming towards the airship. “Open fire!” Krous shouted, and the oncoming horde was met was a hail of bullets. He stepped backwards onto the ramp, firing his SMG as he went. “Up Cruiser, up! We’re all on!”
Crossbow bolts peppered the hull of the airship as Cruiser slammed the throttle to full and the airship lifted off the deck, quickly starting to ascend towards the cloud layer. A few griffons took flight to give chase, but they were cut down by rifle fire a few seconds later. The city was in chaos. Lights began to flare up across all the districts as the noise and shouting awoke griffons across the city. Guards scrambled to get from the outer walls to the keep while officers tried to organize a cohesive response.
In the chaos, the airship quickly ascended into the heavy clouds and turned south west, heading away from the city at maximum speed. Mission accomplished. It was still a long flight back to Equestria, but they had done what they came for. They had rescued Princess Luna.