"They still haven't stopped," Eagle Eye exclaimed, breathlessly. He tilted his tired gaze towards the stalactites overhead. Thin curtains of dust fell from each thud of the exploding shells high above ground. "What are they hoping to accomplish?"
"It's like the Xonan bombardment of the Northeastern Campaign," Zenith grumbled, leading the pack through the narrow, winding tunnels. "They have all the ordinance they could ask for, so they wanna intimidate us until we run out like stupid idiots."
"Surely, they can't think that—"
"Even though we're stupid idiots for coming down here to begin with!" Zenith exclaimed.
"Hah!" Phoenix chuckled. "You'd rather us be up top still? Getting our flanks bombed to shreds?"
"I'd rather us be home and out of Foxtaur!" Zenith grumbled. "Everything was just fine until two days ago. We didn't have to worry about anything bombarding us but squirrels."
"What matters is that we're still alive to complain about it!" Eagle Eye meekly stabbed.
"Don't you get it?!" Zenith spun a frown over his shoulder. "We shouldn't have to be complaining about anything at all! This is stupid! We should have fled earlier when we had the chance—"
"Zenith, go scout ahead," Crimson said.
"I need to watch the floor for breaks in the stone so the rest of you don't trip—" Zenith began.
"Scout ahead and do that at a distance," Crimson droned. "I'm tired of listening to you gripe."
Zenith's nostrils flared. With a firm trot, he sped ahead of the group. "Doesn't matter what's on the other side. Once we get to the Sapphire Ravine, we'd might as well start digging our graves."
Crimson sighed.
Eagle Eye frowned and dashed forward to say something.
Crimson rested a hoof on his shoulder and steadied him. "Leave him be. Don't bother, EE."
"But nopony should talk to you that way, Captain!"
"He has plenty of reasons to be upset."
"Why?" Eagle Eye frowned. He glanced behind him at the other ponies and leaned in to the muscular stallion. "There's not a pony in this place that isn't dealing with something horrible or another. He's not the only one who's got it bad!"
"He's thinking of himself, and that's a normal thing." Crimson smiled exhaustedly as he gazed at the craggy walls drifting past him. "There are very few normal ponies among us."
"I know you will get us home, Captain," Eagle Eye said with a nervous smile. "In fact, I'm counting on it!"
"Are you, though, EE?"
"Erm..." Eagle Eye fidgeted in mid-trot.
"Who do you have to return to? Who is expecting you back in Franzington?"
"I..." Eagle Eye bit his lip. He gulped and avoided Crimson's gaze. "I'll be home because... b-because you will be there." He fidgeted. "You and y-your family and Phoenix's..."
"Then aren't you home now?"
Eagle Eye said nothing.
"EE... I wish the world had more ponies like you who could agree with anything," Crimson said softly. "You fight for the equines you care for, because they happen to be the ones you happen to meet. Everywhere you go, you're a hero. That's a wonderful quality to have, but a rare one."
Eagle Eye looked up at him with moist eyes and a fragile smile. "I-I only learned from the best, Captain..."
"No, EE. You learned from a pony trying to be his best," Crimson said. His tired eyes reflected an opening cavern as his voice turned into a dull echo. "It's what waiting for me at home that defines me, which is why I can't be as selfless as you. Though, Spark knows, I've tried. I think I've tried a little too hard." He gulped. "And Zenith is trying to remind me of that."
"Then..." Eagle Eye glanced nervously back at Rainbow and her two companions in their tiresome trot. "Then what are you g-going to do?"
"I don't know, EE." Crimson glanced up, his glowing horn showing more streams of dust falling from the distant shelling. "But one thing is for sure, the battle we're fighting right now? It's a losing one..."