The morning had moved along rather nicely, and Dahlia Pinnata took a moment toss her head back and redistribute some of her auburn curls away from her eyes and smooth out the lapels of her white waistcoat as she watched the latest celebrity arrival introduce herself to the princess. She had good cause to feel proud of herself. It had been over a year from the announcement of the festival, one that for her at least had been filled with weeks of intense negotiation to get Songbird Serenade on the schedule in spite of the performers packed schedule. It was certainly not as bad as the Countess Coluratura experience of a few years back, but it was no cake walk. But in the end, Songbird won out, even insisting on the ability to record the concert for a live album for charitable purposes. And now she was here. It was going to be a great day.
"Hey Dally. The princess sure looks pleased," came a familiar voice from her left. She turned her head towards her assistant and smiled.
"Yeah...I think we've done it again," she answered, "Lemon Hearts isn't the only one who can pull stuff like this off." She looked away for an instant, and then turned to face towards her friend. But she noticed immediately that the other pony wasn't paying attention to her anymore, but instead had turned to her right and was looking off into the distance. She focused her attention in the same direction and saw an approaching wall of dark hazy gray that dominated the horizon in front of her.
"What in Equis is that?" she asked no one in particular.
The halls that only moments before were almost empty were now a churning mass ponies heading in numerous different direction at once as the alarm continued to sound. But A.K. Yearling had no time to think about it. She had one thing on her mind, the heavy steel door that could at any second slam shut and leave her trapped.
This was not going to happen, she thought. There was too much at stake. Not just her future. Not just some damn alter ego that she had spent so many years creating. She could do so much more outside in the world as Daring Doo than A.K. Yearling could accomplish in a year in some damn bunker. She just had to move faster than that damn door. She had no idea how much time she had. And she couldn't blow her cover along the way. She could only keep moving. She had to try and beat the odds.
"Hah! Not quite fast enough", she thought, as it suddenly appeared in front of her as she rounded one more corner. She passed through at a full gallop, not looking back once as the door slowly swung on its hinges as a magic aura closed the it behind her with the loud cacophony of steel on steel.
“Sir,” came a call from the communications officer, “Captain of the Guard is on the line sir.”
Blackjack came over to the call box that took up a corner of his command station, the sight of the map table still fresh in his head, along with the early reports already coming in from the castle itself. He knew what he had to say, but knowing wouldn’t make it any easier.
“Captain Navarch reporting as ordered sir,” came the voice on the end of the line.
“Captain, this is General Blackjack at Central Command. As you might have noticed, you’ve got all Hades heading straight for you,” Blackjack said as clearly as he could, “The R.F.C. was able to do some damage, but you’ve still got at least 8 large incoming hostiles heading your way, and of last report the Royal Artillery isn’t going to be much help.”
There was the sound of a long sigh, followed by the young captain's reply, “Yes sir, I was briefed on the initial reports of the incursion by my guard liaison. I had hoped for better news. So, I have to evacuate?”
Blackjack nodded to himself. 'Kid knows what he's doing' he thought.
“That is correct captain,” Blackjack answered, “I know that the south gate has been closed for at least the last hour, but even then, we’re hearing that there may be up to a thousand ponies still on the grounds. And Celestia won’t leave without them. I’m afraid that I’ve handed you a real shit sandwich young stallion, but I need you to try and salvage whatever you can out of this.”
“I understand sir. We’ll do our best,” was his answer.
“I know you will son. Good luck to you,” Blackjack answered.
Shining Armor had to duck and dive around the swirling mass of equine around him. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the crowd that he faced, as some were still advancing forward, while others just stood there in what appeared to be total confusion.
It took far too long, but he finally arrived at the causeway that led to the north gate. The first thing he saw was a column of soldiers trying in vain to advance up the path, but slowly getting intermixed with a crowd of ponies heading in the opposite direction, creating an almost hopeless traffic jam. And in the distance over the ramparts of the gleaming white castle in front of him he could hear the growing din that could only signify one thing in his mind...violence.
One officer in the group spotted Shining in the crowd and quickly made his way forward and joined him on the opposite bank and saluted and said, "Your Highness, the entire causeway is impassable. Our orders were to reinforce the garrison, but we can't even get on the damn grounds. What do we do sir?"
Shining Armor looked back towards the castle. For a moment, he craned his head a bit higher, as if hoping against hope to see some particular pony looking to him from the parapets. Then he looked the other officer in the eye and said, "Don't even try! I'm countermanding those orders! Get these troops back to the bank; leave just a few to help the civilians evacuate! And let me know if the Royal Engineers show up! We may have to blow this damn causeway!"
"Yes sir," the other officer replied, and immediately he moved to carry out his orders.
The crowds thickened considerably the further they progressed, and Trixie was beginning to lose track of how far they had come as landmarks became harder to spot through the crush of ponies.
“Starlite!” she called out to her friend, “I don’t think that we’re going to get there in time!"
There was no reply at first, but then she heard Starlite call out, “Trixie…you’re right! HANG ON!!”
“Hang on to what?” Trixie answered before she saw the flash…and the scene changed completely form the streets to what appeared to be the parade ground of Canterlot Castle.
She paused for a moment, her head on a swivel as she tried to get her bearings, and then she resumed her pursuit. She spotted Starlite ahead of her, and what may have been Twilight in the distance, along with a red furred pony dressed in black.
“I wish you would give me some warning when you’re going to do that!” she called out before a random civilian blocked her path.
“Watch it buddy!” she called out as she skidded to a stop before the stranger finally ran off.
She tried to get underway again, but couldn’t spot Starlite immediately ahead of her, just an unusual figure in black. She trotted up alongside the stranger, and her mind trying to comprehend just what she was seeing. But in her mind, she recognized the stranger's features. And her blood went cold.
“Starlite?” she asked. There was no response from the apparently now fossilized figure, but there were no doubts in her mind who it was. And then she saw the large creatures heading in her direction.
“Oh no!” she cried out, and she immediately wrapped her arms around her friend, closed her eyes, and concentrated as hard as she could.
And she saw the flash again, and she opened her eyes, and looked around. They had only teleported at most twenty feet, back to where she had the collision.
“Oh dammit,” she cursed, “That didn’t help.” She glanced around quickly trying to think. But she had no time. She had to try again. She closed her eyes, and tried to pick a destination, and then…came the flash…
She noticed the change in the background noise immediately, and she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the figure of a earth pony mare, dressed in black. Then she looked around and recognized her surroundings. It was the state dining room where they had gotten breakfast a few hours before.
“Miss, what’s going on out there?” the confused servant asked, “Has every pony gone mad?” Others had by now come up to her, all looking for some sort of clue.
“Uh…I have no idea,” Trixie replied, the strain of the teleportation spell now kicking in, “but…whatever it is, it's bad. We need to hide.”
“Let us all go to the kitchen!” one of the chefs called out, “And someone douse those candles!”
In an instant, a nearby unicorn had snuffed the candles, while another closed the curtains, turning the bright sunlit room into something resembling evening, as two others got behind the fossilized form of Starlite Glimmer and pushed her towards the nearby doorway. Trixie followed along as best she could, and they were soon in the even darker kitchen. As the last of the staff filed in and the room went quiet, Trixie took a moment to sit down, removed her hat and carefully set it on the floor, and then went over to a nearby cart and grabbed a rather over decorated jelly doughnut off one of the plates, went back to where she started, and sat down.
“And all I wanted was to hit the street vendors,” she said to no one in particular, “…but noooo…” and then popped the pastry in her mouth.
It had taken her far too long to get rid of the blindfold that her captors had tied on her so many hours ago. But now, she had at least some idea of the surroundings, and the ponies around her. The scene was quite dark, with only one small red light shining from the ceiling to give any sort of illumination. There were other ponies around her, some with bits in their mouths, others apparently without. But there was one thing consistent among all her fellow prisoners…silence.
She had been ricocheting off objects around her since they had thrown her into this particular room, but now she noticed that some of the objects around her were rectangular, others rounded, and still others square. She lowered her head down as far as her restraints would allow, and spotted what appeared to be a label on one container…identifying it as…bottled water?
She looked around to one of the other shapes nearby and noticed a very similar label on what appeared to be the top. And there it was again on a similar container to her left. Her mind struggled to catch up to the new information.
And then it dawned on her…the cargo hold. It was the only thing that made any sense. There was nowhere else on the ship that could hold a large group of ponies and also be easily secured.
“Is everypony alright,” she asked anypony around her.
She waited a moment, but no response was heard.
"Would somepony please talk to me!?!" she pleaded.
She closed her eyes lowered her head and grit her teeth. She was surrounded by ponies, but she had never felt so alone in her whole life.
It was then that she heard it, a commotion in the distance. Someone, or something sounded like it was hitting the adjoining wall, as if being dragged kicking and screaming. And then came the light…
The sudden brightness caused her to turn her head away, but she saw the shadows dance across the adjoining wall as another prisoner was unceremoniously tossed into the already crowded enclosure.
“You are lucky nasty pony that I did not leave you to the wrath of the others for what you did!” a nasally voice called out.
“Yeah…well since you’re handing out favors buddy…” a familiar voice called out, “…do me one more and keep on talking so I’ll know in which direction to spit!”
His captor didn't respond with anything more than a grunting sound before slamming the door shut and locking it.
"Hello?" she queried in the general direction of the new arrival, "Are you o.k.?"
"Huh? Oh uh...sort of," was the reply from the stranger, "had to do a quick jog to the right before one of these ape things speared my wingpony, and I kind of got caught up in the rigging of this damn ship. And I think my left wing's a bit out of joint. But..." he paused and tried to stretch against his restraints she assumed to get more comfortable, "...I managed to catch that particular one of these jerks with one of my wingsabers. He won't be getting up any time soon."
She knew this pony...maybe. The size of him...the voice was familiar...she just knew it. She moved as close to the stranger as she could, trying to get through the checklist in her head.
"Hey...are you still there?" the stranger inquired.
His question was answered with the question, "Sting...is that you?"
"Uh yeah...I guess..." he replied warily, and then added, "Oh...oh for crying out loud. Is that you Angel?"
"Uh...yeah," Angel Wings answered, "Uh...long time no see, if you know what I mean." She paused for a minute, and then asked, "Uh...when did you join the R.F.C.?"
"Uh...a couple of years ago. It's a great little part time job...most of the time," he answered, "So... how the heck did they catch you?"
"Uh...I was on a cruise with a friend of mine," she answered, "I... have no idea what happened to her. I sure hope that she's o.k.."
"With all due respect...would you two kindly shut up," came a voice from among the heretofore silent crowd.
Sky Stinger answered, "Hey buddy! Got any idea what M.Y.O.B. stands for!?!"
The rest of the group stayed silent.
"Sting," Angel Wings continued, "I'm really scared. What are they going to do with us?"
Sky Stinger didn't reply at first. But after a long pause, he answered, "Well...there's good reason to be scared Angel. Just don't give up. We're not done for yet."
A.K. Yearling made quick work of the long tunnel that separated her from the outside world, her mind already churning with questions and potential plans. The big problem that she foresaw was exactly what she would encounter on the grounds out the post once she cleared the tunnel. It would probably force her to maintain her current persona at least till she cleared the compound, and she had no idea just what that would entail.
“Hey!” a voice called from somewhere behind her, “What’s the big idea!”
She turned around and found herself almost muzzle to muzzle with Lieutenant Alydar.
“Ma’am, with all due respect, did it ever occurred to you that it might look just a bit questionable if you make a mad dash for the door in the middle of a DEFCON 2 alert!?!” he barked, “Or...or are you just TRYING to get arrested!?!”
For a moment, once she got over her surprise at the very idea that he was able to keep up with her in her "mad dash", Yearling had to smile. ‘Maybe this guy isn’t a complete twit’, she thought.
“Let’s just say that I’d rather not be around when level 2 turns into level 1,” she answered with an appropriate level of snark, “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a damn soldier.”
“Ma’am, that’s very unlikely,” Alydar answered, “DEFCON 1 is offensive war, and only a crown princess can order that. And in case you haven’t noticed, not only are we not even properly mobilized, but the castle, where our princesses just happen to be at the moment, is at risk of being overrun!” He took one step back, took a deep breath and said, “Ma’am, I need you to accompany me to the M.P. station to report our status to my superiors before they notice that I’m missing, and they accuse me of desertion...please…”
Yearling sighed. As much as she wanted to bolt, she couldn’t justify screwing this kid over for the sake of her own ego as much as anything. As much as Equestria needed Daring Doo, for the moment they’d have to settle for A.K. Yearling.
The pair had been moving through the hallways and antechambers of the castle for only seemed like forever. But there was no time to waste. They had both seen what had happened to Songbird’s bodyguards when they had tried to get between her and the monstrous creatures that spilled out of those ships. And the sight of Princess Celestia being engulfed in that horrid blackness was a sight that Dahlia Pinnata was sure she’d take to her grave.
The twosome came to a balcony that opened out on to the west side of the castle proper, and instinctively ducked down lest they be spotted from the ground.
“O.k….uh…I don’t think that they’ve gotten this far yet,” Dahlia said as she turned back to her charge. “Oh…and uh…yeah…I probably should have done this earlier. But, on behalf of everyone here at the castle, I’d like to apologize. We do have more than our fair share of disasters here in Canterlot. But…this one kind of pegs the needle…if you know what I mean.” She gave Songbird an obviously forced grin, which was answered with an upraised hoof and a smile.
“Hey,” the performer replied, “I’m not going to hold you personally responsible…o.k.? We’re going to get out of this, and we’re going to do it together. I don’t know you that well, but I still like to think of you as a friend of mine, and I don’t leave my friends in a jam if there’s anything I’m capable of doing about it.” She paused, and asked, “Now…are you still with me?”
Dahlia nodded, "Oh...uh yeah...of course. I mean...I'm just, you know...a little freaked out. You know how it is. But yeah...you're right. We've got this."
But then a disturbance outside stopped their conversation, and the pair came over to the edge of the balcony and peered out between the pillars to see what happened. Immediately, they rolled over behind the pillars as at least three spears came in their general direction. But as soon as they did, they spotted the target, as a large grey clad pegasus shot past their position, juking right to correct her course before heading away towards the south.
The grey clad flyer homed in on the only large structure immediately visible to her, a lone tower situated in the perfect position to monitor both the gardens and the approach to the north gate. She came in to land on a decent sized balcony, then reached down and adjusted her commo pack as best she could, before calling out into her microphone “Tower Control…repeat Tower Control…this is Hellhound 14 Delta…repeat Hellhound 14 Delta…come in please…over.”
The chatter that day coming into the communications section of Central Command was like a tidal wave. But the operator caught that callsign, and answered, “Hellhound 14 Delta provisional, this is the Tower. I need you to verify your i.d. before continuing transmission. Failure to give the proper countersign will result in communications cutoff. Are you ready…over?”
“Hellhound 14 Delta…roger that,” she replied.
“Hellhound 14 Delta provisional…this is the Tower…sign is Troubadour…repeat…Troubadour…over,” came the call.
The flyer closed her eyes and thought about it for a moment. ‘Dammit...what the hell is today’s countersign,’ she thought. And then it came to her, and she called out, “Tower, this is Hellhound 14 Delta…countersign is Wolf Trap…repeat Wolf Trap! How copy over?”
“14 Delta…this is the Tower…call sign confirmed,” was the reply, “Report your status.”
“Tower…this is 14 Delta…I am currently on the mountain…repeat on the mountain overlooking the northern exposure. I need to file a sitrep with the O.I.C. asap,” she answered.
“This is the Tower. Standby 14 Delta,” was the reply.
The radio operator pushed back from the console and glanced about quickly, for a moment not sure who to look for.
“Corporal!” she called to the nearest pony she could flag down, “Get the general! Tell him to come here immediately! Wing Commander Rider is calling in!”
The flyer stayed on the parapet and did her best to survey her situation. She could see off in the distance the north gate, by now swarming with ponies of all types trying desperately to evacuate. She noticed that for whatever reason most pegasi were staying on the ground, probably from having seen what had happened to others on the other side of the castle who had taken to the air only to be netted by their attackers before they gotten more than a few feet off the ground.
“Hellhound 14 Delta this is the Tower,” came the call from her earpiece, “The O.I.C. is present and is requesting a report.”
“Tower…this is Hellhound 14 Delta…understood. Report is as follows…security situation for castle complex is totally compromised. Activity over parade ground and south gate makes any air or land evacuation impossible from that approach. Northern approach is open, but situation is deteriorating rapidly. Highly recommend that air recon assets be launched asap.” The flyer paused and took a moment to work her wings for a moment. After so much flying that day, she couldn’t risk her badly strained muscles seizing up. She finished up and then continued, “Do we have status reports on the key assets at this time?”
“14 Delta, this is the Tower,” came the reply, “That is a negative…over.”
“Tower…this is 14 Delta,” she answered, “In that case, I do have probable sightings to report. I have unconfirmed sightings of both codenames Diamond and Garnett. List them both as out of action. I have at present no report on any others.”
“Understood 14 Delta,” they answered.
“What are you doing here! Who in Equis are you!” came a call from behind the flyer. She turned around immediately and saw a cream colored mare with a red mane and wearing a black sweater and glasses.
The flyer answered, “I’m with the Royal Flying Corps…and in case you haven’t noticed, we’re kind of under attack!”
“Uh…” the strange pony answered, “the royal what?”
The flyer groaned and rolled her eyes and fired back, “THE AIR FORCE!!” She could see that the other pony was still confused, but it was then that a sound caught her ear, and she turned back to the parapet to locate the source.
Looming up between the towers of the castle a large armed airship passed, gradually losing altitude and maneuvering towards the Royal Gardens below. It was a slow process, but the intention was clear.
“What are they doing?” a question came from behind the flyer.
The flyer took a deep breath and replied as calmly as she could, “My best guess is land, deploy troops, and close off the north gate!”
She looked back to the stranger behind her. The poor mare had fallen back on to her haunches, her hoof to her chest, and was mumbling to herself, “How…how am I…oh my…”
The flyer turned back to the scene in front of her, and called out into her microphone, “Tower…this is Hellhound 14 Delta…I have enemy aircraft approaching my location. If vessel is allowed to land North Gate will be compromised. Request immediate air support. Are there heavy assets airborne at this time?”
“Standby 14 Delta,” the operator replied. The flyer turned and watched the approaching craft. Whomever it was piloting that craft, they were definitely having issues lining up with their intended target. But it was clear that at best, it would only be a few minutes before they would complete their task.
“14 Delta, this is the Tower. V.A. 19 has units in your area. Estimate 6 minutes out,” was the reply.
“Tower, that’s too long,” The flyer replied, “Is there any possibility of triple A support…over?”
“Standby 14 Deta,” was the reply.
General Blackjack turned and looked to the ponies around him. “Do we have contact with that battery on the north side of the castle!?!” he barked out.
“Uh…not at present sir,” another radio operator replied, “It’s going to take a minute.”
Blackjack growled and glanced about the room.
“Red!” he called out, “Where the hell are you?!?”
“RED!?!” he tried again.
But the pony in question did not respond as she pushed through the crowd in a rush to get to her office. Upon arriving, she wasted no time and quickly loaded a small collection of equipment from her bookshelf to her saddlebag, then produced a map from her desk with her magic. She quickly studied the map, found what she was looking for, stepped back from the desk, and concentrated. Quickly her horn took on a bright white glow, and then she vanished from the room.
“Lieutenant!” an unfamiliar voice called from somewhere. Blue Breeze turned around and saw an unfamiliar officer in dress greens galloping up to him.
“Uh ma’am, what are you doing here?” he asked as the stranger halted about a meter away from him.
“There is no time to explain my friend,” she answered, “My name is Major Yeux Brillants and I am here from Central Command. We have received a call for fire from a unit in the castle and I need to know your status!”
Blue Breeze wasn’t sure how to answer at first, but finally responded, “Well…the weapons here were stored improperly, and were in varying degrees unserviceable. I’ve got one operational, and I can get another up and running soon. But...did you say IN the castle?”
The senior officer nodded. “That is correct.” She then paused and looked around. “Where is your director crew?” she asked.
Blue Breeze could only shake his head and answer, “Dammed if I know ma'am. With all due respect, I can’t authorize a shot towards the castle. It’s against every rule in the book.”
The female officer moved past him and climbed up upon the director platform. “I understand my friend, but in this case I’m afraid that I must pull rank,” she answered, “And I shall take full responsibility for this, and the consequences. But I need one shot, and you must take it,” she answered.
She positioned herself on the platform and used her magic to unload her saddlebag. “Do you have a radio here?” she called back over her shoulder.
“We’ve been having issues all morning,” he answered, “our range is pretty limited.”
“I understand,” Brillance continued, “But If there is any range at all, we should be able to reach the Castle. Get on the Guard command channel if you please!”
Blue Breeze looked back to his radio pony, who nodded and quickly made his adjustments. “Yes ma’am!” he answered.
Brillants looked back towards the radio operator, and when she signaled readiness, used her magic to bring up both the earphones and the mic, and when she was ready, called out into the mic, “Hellhound 14 Delta this is Hellhound 19 Yankee! Come in please!”
“19 Yankee, this is 14 Delta,” came the reply, You’re coming in quite strong. What is position over?”
“I am presently at Battery Bravo,” Brillants replied, “Can you confirm your location? Last report has you at Twilight Tower.”
The flyer looked around. She had heard the description of the one-time home of the Princess of Friendship. It seemed her friend’s guess was correct.
“That is affirmative,” she replied.
“Very good my friend. I have you in my sights. Stand by,” Brillants replied.
Dahlia peaked around the corner of the wall, and saw what she expected, the Royal Gardens. She let lose a clearly audible sigh and looked back over her shoulder to Songbird.
“O.k….all we have to do,” she said to her charge, “is get across the rose garden, and then we’ll reach the North Gate. Still with me?”
“Hey, I’m game if you are,” was Songbird’s answer. This brought a smile to Dahlia’s face…at least until she spotted the large shaggy creature directly behind her friend.
“LOOK OUT!” she shouted as the beast lunged forward and caught hold of Songbird just past her wings. Songbird instinctively reared back, and her attacker reached out to catch hold of her around her neck.
Dahlia launched herself forward and rammed the creature headfirst, causing him to lose his balance and release his captive. But it left Dahlia dazed and she fell back onto her haunches. Thankfully Songbird grabbed her around her shoulders and towed her forward and away.
"Did you say something about artillery?" came a voice from behind the flyer.
"Uh yeah kid," she answered, "unless you have a better idea."
"Well...yeah," the bespectacled mare fired back, "I mean as opposed to getting killed!"
The flyer turned back to the scene off the balcony, and called out into her mic, "19 Yankee...I certainly hope you have a firing solution. The damn thing is almost on top of my position!"
"I have the coordinates 14 Delta," was the reply, "All we have to do is lock them in."
All of a sudden, a dark shadow engulfed the flyer, and she looked back over her shoulder to the craft looming over her head.
"Be advised 19 Yankee before you engage," she said as calmly as she could manage, "Proximity to friendly forces is danger close."
"Understood my friend," was the reply, "I strongly suggest that you take whatever cover you can find."
"Lieutenant!" Brillants called out, "Man your best gun. This is going to be very close. We must execute this with precision!"
"Yes ma'am!" he answered as the other members took their positions on the platform of the big 88mm weapon.
Brillants once again glanced over the map she had brought. She could only hope that the distances listed were correct.
"Gunner!" she called out, "Load one round...fuse setting at 4!!"
"Yes ma'am!" was the answer she got and she heard the gunners working the weapons breach and ramming the round home.
"Lieutenant!" she called again, "Deflection at 1 8 0!"
"Yes ma'am!" was the reply as the weapon twisted right and lined up on its target.
"Sergeant!" she continued, "Elevation at 42 degrees!"
"Yes ma'am!" she responded and the barrel rose up to meet the now clearly visible target.
"Stand ready!!" she called out as she paused to install her earplugs.
Dahlia struggled to keep up with the young pegasus that accompanied her. But her head refused to clear, and she knew in her heart that she was holding her charge back.
It was then that she saw the dark shadow suddenly dominate the scene around her as the large airship approached from behind, barely missing the solitary tower behind them. She knew that she had to move, but in that moment it was all too much for her to process.
"Dally...come on!" Songbird called out from somewhere ahead of her. And then she heard it, "Dally...LOOK OUT!" and then she felt the arm catch her around her neck. She could feel the grip of her attackers' furry arms tighten in spite of her thrashing and her airway constrict. She couldn't see her attacker, but she could feel the hardness of the body armor he was wearing, along with his hot breath on the back of her neck. She knew then that there was no escape.
She opened her eyes, and saw that young pop star friend of hers running up to try a probably futile counterattack. Dally struggled to catch as much breath as she could, and when she had, she yelled out "RUN!!!!"
Songbird stopped short, suddenly without a plan. She glanced about wildly, not sure of her next move. And then, she heard a clearly audible boom from not too far away.
"Gunner..." Brillants called out, "...FIRE!!!"
And with that command, the young corporal pulled the lanyard, and the weapon spoke.
The flyer was still on the balcony when she heard the sound.
"Oh shit," she said aloud, and she turned back to the mare behind her and called out, "INCOMING!!!"
She scrambled away from the balcony and shoved the young bystander under a nearby table as her mind counted the seconds till detonation.
Songbird had no idea what to do next. The only thing that came to mind was get to shelter, and the only shelter was the castle itself. She took off at a full gallop and just managed to get around the corner of the sturdy stone structure as the shell detonated.
As a pegasus, Songbird has heard loud noises in her time. But this was like having a roman candle go off in your face. She heard the roar that signaled the death of the airship as it crashed to the ground, and the rattle of the chunks of stone falling that once had been part of the castle wall till being hit by the shrapnel the shell unleashed. Finally, the cacophony reached its climax, and she looked around the corner, and saw the wreckage, and the casualties.
What she didn't see was her friend, her friend's attacker, or given the debris field, any sign of an escape route.
She lingered for a moment, and then turned away and slowly proceeded back into the castle. For her, there was simply no other option left.
The flyer slowly crawled out from her improvised shelter. At least until she tried to stand, and the pain in her left flank forced her back down. She turned her head and looked towards her flanks and saw the slow trickle of blood that was now staining her damaged flight suit.
"Oh my gosh," her companion cried out, "you got hurt?"
"Yeah, looks that way," the flyer answered. She tried once again to stand, but she was forced back down by her charge.
"Hold still!" she ordered, and her horn lit up, and a collection of bandages and dressing material suddenly appeared. She positioned herself next to the injured mare and used her magic to tear away some of the fliers' suits material. She then began to treat the two rather nasty looking wounds.
It was then that the flyers' radio crackled to life and she heard, "Hellhound 14 Delta this is the Tower. Come in 14 Delta."
The flyer cleared her throat and responded, "Tower Control this is 14 Delta."
"14 Delta, this is the Tower," the voice continued, "Be advised...strike package is still enroute to your location. Do you still want them over?"
The flyer looked to the mare next to her, only then noting that she was now missing her glasses. She then shifted a bit to her right and answered, "Tower this is Hellhound 14 Delta! Negative...repeat negative! Wave off...wave off!! There's too much chance of fratricide." She paused and then added, "I do need an emergency evac at my location asap...any available unit!"
"14 Delta this is the Tower" came the answer, "Roger that. Units are inbound and should arrive soon."
"This is 14 Deta, understood," the flyer answered. She then looked back towards her young benefactor, who returned the glance with an obviously annoyed scowl, that she could only answer with a smile and a shrug.
Shining Armor stood by the south gate, herding as many of the civilians past as he could. But he knew that time was running out. The number of attackers seemed to keep increasing by the minute, and the perimeter that the ponies were defending shrank at an ever-increasing rate.
Finally, with the distance now down to less than ten meters, he had had enough.
"Captain!" he called out to the young commander who was still fighting alongside his troops. Navarch broke away from the group and came back to the senior officer.
"Navarch, we've done all we can. It's time to go!" Shining Armor said to the young officer.
The dark red amour clad pony scowled at the order and gave a clearly exasperated sigh. But he only paused a moment before turning around and calling out, "Bugler!"
"Yes sir!" came the reply from a couple of meters away.
"Sound 'Retreat'!" the young commander ordered.
"Yes sir," the tall blue mare answered, and she immediately brought the bugle to her lips and played the call, only a bit faster, Shining Armor noted, than the standard, which he had to admire given the rapidly shrinking perimeter they were holding.
The sudden disengagement seemed to take the attackers off guard, and the remaining ponies made it through the South Gate much faster than anypony would have guessed. Shining and Captain Navarch paused about 20 meters past the gate and let all the other ponies pass down the tree lined path towards the bridge that crossed the north bank of the river. At first, they couldn't see their enemy. But in a moment, they appeared, apparently intent on following them all the way to Canterlot City itself.
"Sir!" Captain Navarch called out, "Get going!!"
Shining Armor nodded, and took off at a full gallop, while the guard captain paused just long enough to satisfy himself that no other pony was left behind. And then he himself took off, past the trees, and unto the spans of the stone bridge, steering just slightly to the left to avoid the lone unicorn standing in the center with the bright red castles clearly visible on his breastplate.
"Lite it!" Navarch commanded as he ran past. The lone N.C.O. lowered his head, and his horn began to glow as he concentrated on the strand of primer cord that was draped in front of him from an unseen location underneath the span of the bridge. In an instant, the cord ignited.
The unicorn reared back and quickly turned towards the opposite shore, calling out as he did so, "FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!" before breaking into the fastest gallop he could manage. He gave it everything he could and had almost reached the shore before two spans of the bridge erupted into a an almost volcanic-like explosion of smoke and debris, with the sound echoing off the structures around it like a thunderclap.
It took several minutes for the smoke to clear. But when it did, it became perfectly clear that the combat engineers had succeeded at their task, with two spans now in the water. The soldiers on the shore were by now intermixed with any number of civilians, both evacuees and a growing number of curious bystanders. It was clear to all what had happened, but from the ever-growing assembly not one word was heard.
Shining Armor moved over to the shoreline and surveyed the scene. A moment later, he was joined by Captain Navarch. At first not a word was said between the pair. But Shining could hear the heavy breathing of his young replacement and turned his head to look. He could see the frustration, and clearly sense the younger pony's anger.
Finally, he heard an angry snort.
"Dammit!" the younger pony said to no pony in particular.