//------------------------------//
// Ch.9 - Downdraft 
// Story: The Line 
// by Sooks 
//------------------------------//

Rainbow Blaze passed the cloth along the end of his lance. A few drops of blood had dried on its tip, and dragon blood could be a nasty mess if left unattended. His armor, thankfully, was no worse for wear. Was he fighting safer or smarter? Was he better? Or was it just the perks of leading a support platoon that sat in the back and did comparatively nothing? He didn't hate the newbies, far from it. They were as eager as any of them to be doing the job, always ready to take the jump. He was proud of his little flock. But he was a soldier, and his friends were out fighting without him. 

However, Firefly had left him in charge of Crescent Platoon, which meant his focus couldn't be out on the front. Crescendo's death had hit the platoon harder than they let on. Pastelight had lost a distressing amount of weight, and hung to her two new wingponies like a shadow. Willow Wisp and Silver Raindrops had been spending more time together; it was better than them growing cold and distant, at least. He knew Slipstream was giving himself the blame for letting a squaddie die so early, but the pegasus wouldn't talk about it. Every time, he would dismiss Rainbow's concerns with a wave and say he was fine. For three weeks, the newbies had been coming to terms with what their senior comrades had already known. They had eaten and slept and fought with the awareness that they were very, utterly, painfully mortal in a way most would never face. He just hoped they lived long enough to form a callus. 

The rainbow maned pegasus snorted and looked up from his cleaning. He had to admit, Thunderhooves Pass was a nice camp. In the months since its establishment, the base had swelled down to the valley floor with the influx of earth ponies and unicorns. The three pegasi companies -- Gale, who had already been there, Cyclone, and Downpour, the group deployed with them -- largely stayed atop the east mesa with the ships. Everypony got along well enough, he supposed. That's the nice thing about ponies: real hardship brought them together. 

The night after they'd been attacked on the way to the Pass, the crew of the Adamant raised a toast to the fallen airponies. Candescence ran a fine ship, Rainbow knew, and it was his loss that he had spent so much time keeping after his flock that he'd not been able to meet more of them. 

His brass eyes wandered out over the edge of the mesa, absently eyeing the southern expanse. Three weeks, six attacks. Most of the forces they'd faced had been land based. The aerial dragons could fly wherever they pleased, but the lizards with their bellies stuck to the ground could only come to them. And every time, they'd made the beasts regret it. That wasn't to say the air ranks were without casualties. In one attack, an airpony who went in for the kill was caught in a downdraft on his exit path. The wind had blown him to the ground, and the dragons snapped him nearly in half. Another had been caught by a boulder some longtail had had the wit to throw, got her wing crushed and vanished in the stampede of scales. And they'd lost Sprinkle to another glimmerback just two days ago. One second she was there, then she was gone.

His breath was escaping him, and he paused to reign it in. It could never be perfect, could it? They had just filled their ranks again. Now four of theirs were gone. More in the other companies, more on the ground. And for every dead, so many dragon bodies. For creatures that were supposed to be hard to kill, they died in droves. The monsters had no wherewithal to attack weaker locations. They would throw themselves against the camps, regardless of their chances of victory, and the magic, trenches, spikes, and fortitude of their equine opponents had rebuffed them every time. There were jokes to build a wall out of the dragon carcasses, but nopony wanted to go near them. Fine by him, they were starting to stink. 

A low rumble rolled across the open plain to the south. Against the horizon, tall pillars of clouds gathered beneath the late afternoon sun. Rainbow Blaze tucked away his cloth and shouldered his weapon. Thunderstorms were always a mixed bag. 

~*~

Comet held a new moon, a tristar, a single star, and a six pointed star, and that was about as much as she knew. The others in her circle had explained, briefly and with as little detail as they could get away with, the rules of their card game, but she was completely at a loss. Gale Force had given her a couple pointers whenever she had something good, but he got called away with his squad and left her to her own inadequate devices.  

"Well, fillies and gentlecolts," a pale yellow unicorn said with a haughty smile, "I think it's time to call it a night." He laid out a new moon, a full moon, and a waning moon. "Lunar cycle." A few ponies groaned, but Skyline responded with her cards: two six pointed stars and two five stars.

"Grand Constellation," the mare said and scooped up the pot with a sweep of her hoof. Comet set down her cards and muttered something about finding a drink. Water and weak cider were in near constant supply, but the harder stuff was a rare commodity. She wished she had known before finishing off a bottle and a half of wine so quickly. She was not a drinker, but there were nights where it beat lying awake and replaying every moment of the past three weeks in her head. Still, she didn't want to develop a habit, so water it was. 

"Hey, Shimmer." Willow Wisp and Silver Raindrops found her at the barrel, filling her mug. "How goes the game?"

"Awful, I've never even heard of what they were playing." She took a slow drink and smiled. "I think they just liked taking my bits. What's the word, weatherpony?"

"Word is thunder." As if to emphasize, a low rumble rolled across the mesa. Conversation across the camp hushed, as if a great danger lurked behind the sound, but resumed after a couple seconds. "They're pulling the ships low so they're not so likely to get struck. Orders are, we're to stow all our gear so it doesn't get soaked. Could you pass the word around?" Comet nodded. "Hey... how are you doing?"

The filly shrugged. "Alright, all considered. How about you two?" The lovebirds' wings absentmindedly unfurled and rubbed against each other. They had been spending more time together when they could after reaching the camp. Every moment counted, she supposed. "I'm glad you're looking out for each other."

Rain smiled. "How is it, running as Jitterbug's wing?"

"Better than you'd think. All her energy goes into her flying, and she gets so serious. She's nothing like the obnoxious filly she normally is." 

"That's good." The slender red filly sighed. "I honestly had no idea what to expect from her. She can just be such a..."

"Pain in your ass?" Willow offered.

"A hoof full," Rain responded curtly. "You, Willow, are the pain in my ass."

"Phrasing," Willow managed through stifled laughter. Rain blushed a brilliant shade of red, and it took both his forelegs and both his wings and half a dozen apologies to keep her from flying away.

"She only gives you a hard time because you get so flustered, you know," Comet said.

"I shouldn't have to lower myself to her level for her to stop," Silver said as she tried to regain her composure, "or yours, for that matter, Willow." Willow and Comet snickered. "What, I shouldn't." 

"But you do." Comet smiled to herself. "You two get along better that way, even if you're still fighting." The couple gave her an odd look, and she waved a dismissive hoof. "Nevermind, I'm getting tired. Lucky for me, my CAG shift was earlier today." The filly looked out on the storm. "I just hope the storm doesn't bring anything with it." 

"I can't imagine a dragon could avoid getting roasted just like we would." Rain sniffed the air. "It's a wet one as well, which makes flying that much harder."

"I feel sorry for Chunks and Ogre, they're on first CAG tonight." Willow swished his tail and snorted. "Speaking of the rain, come on, we need to get that gear stowed." Another rumble set the ponies to a trot. It was louder and preceded by a faint, brief flash. 

~*~

As much as the indigo filly yearned for sleep, part of her mind was enraptured by the sound of the downpour. Without pause or change, the storm pounded down on their tents, sheets of water cascading off the sides and turning the ground into a muddy hole. Every so often, a bright flash and a boom like a dozen cannons would threaten to tear the sky open, and then everything would return to darkness and the silence of the rain. 

Some nights, Comet would be able to net a whispered conversation with one of her friends. Some nights she would fiddle with her contraption and mark off three or four more failed patterns. Some nights, she would be asleep before her face hit the pillow. One night, shortly after they had arrived, she had awoken to the sound of her own sob. Her pillow had been damp with tears, and when she tried to recall why, only the image of a hearth and torn, bloody feathers came to her. Through the darkness, she could make out Moon Fang's amethyst eyes gazing straight at her. Her cheeks flared with shame; nopony else cried in their sleep. Or at least, nopony that she knew of. The sorbet colt crept over to her bunk and laid a hoof on her shoulder. They didn't say anything to each other, he just rubbed his hoof into her shoulder until she fell asleep again. The next morning, she had whispered her thanks while they waited for breakfast. He had simply said, "Of course," smiled, and that was the last they had spoken of it.

At some point, the tent ruffled with the changing CAGs. Gale saw her looking at him in the darkness and gave her a sheepish smile for waking her. She shook her head and smiled back. To her surprise, Lily poked her head out from her bunk underneath Comet’s as Gale walked by. The filly's eyes were full of energy, enough to rival the storm. When those silver saucers met her tangerine slits, Comet smiled at her rambunctiousness and rolled back onto her pillow. 

Outside, amidst the rain, she could hear somepony swapping stories from another camp or some other time, it was impossible to make out. Twice, Comet thought she heard the roar of a dragon mixed with the thunder, but no horns were blown, and after a hundred years, she slipped into the darkness and dreamt of nothing.

~*~

The mud sucked the ponies in, tripping them with every step. When at last they did wrench their hooves free, it was with a loud, undignified squelch. Every so often, a curse would ring out when a boot would find the company of the mud preferable to the hoof it had been on. The tents and supplies were no worse for wear, thankfully, but reaching them was a miserable affair. 

Comet sat on a box above the bog and ate her breakfast while she listened to the others talk shop. Seven months was a fair amount of time by most standards, but it was like their experienced comrades had decades of knowledge on the newbies. They knew tricks for flying, for fighting, for dodging, for scouting, for patrolling, for eating and sleeping, for anything you could think to ask. Even the unicorns and the earth ponies had tricks worth knowing. But for once, the indigo filly was not sure what to say. The one question she really wanted to ask, nopony had an answer to. Firefly would probably give her some strange answer that made sense but didn't actually help, and the rest would just honestly not know. 

The first airship lazily rose above the edge of the mesa, returning to its regular altitude. They had spent little time on the Adamant since arriving at Thunderhooves Pass, though they were never far from it. It was nice to have the open space to set up in, and the ship could be a little claustrophobic, but she had seen almost none of the crew. Maybe she could find an excuse to go visit.

"Alright, Squad One, Squad Four," Rainbow Blaze hovered into the breakfast gathering with his clipboard, "low altitude maneuvers in the safe zone after breakfast. Squad Two and Three, dive exercises. Switch after two hours."  The sergeant had promised supplementary training, and he was a stallion of his word. Even on the front line, drills started their day. Well, at least they weren't sitting around and brooding all morning. Comet shot a glance at her cobalt boss. Maybe that was the point. 

Lily breathed long, loud, and slow as Comet helped her with her armor. Nothing good ever came with their suits, but there was something relaxing about having it. The pink filly had even seen Stratus wear his to bed a couple times. She gave her wings a quick flex, pleased to find them unobstructed. 

"So what's harder to clean off, Egghead," Lily looked over her shoulder, "mud or dragon blood?"

"I would have said the blood," Comet grumbled, "but I saw a guy's boot after it had slipped off in a mud hole this morning. You wouldn't have known it was a boot." 

"No kidding. I'm glad it's not hot and dry all the time, but this is crap."

"Sure looks like it, anyway," Moon Fang said from across the tent. 

"You know what though, the water keeps the dust down. It's not much, but I'll take it." They chattered about whatever they could think of as they finished suiting up and made their way out to practice. Once they were airborne, the mud was a thing of the past, and as Comet had pointed out, the air was crystal clear after the storm. 

The two squads ran through a series of loops, rolls, and turns that kept them only a stallion's height above the ground. More than once, a sharp bank put their wingtips within sneezing distance of the muddy ground. It was on such an occasion that a pocket of air caught Lily Nimbus and propelled her straight into the dirt. Her spear caught in the muck and she was flipped end over end, plopping into the ground with a spectacular splash. The string of curses that left her mouth would have stuck an old nanny deaf from the shock. 

"Anything broken, Nimbus?" Cinnamon Cane and his squad landed beside their downed pony. Comet and Summer Seas helped her flip over and get back to her feet. Aside from being mostly brown, she looked to be fine.

"Just my bucking pride, sir. Faust, what the crap was that?"

"That was a downdraft, Airpony." Cane looked up to the other squad flying a holding pattern and motioned for them to come in. "It has a record for getting ponies killed. You're lucky the ground was so soft, or you probably would have snapped your glaive in half, and that could have killed you. So, we got to figure out how to deal with these drafts. And don't," he jabbed a hoof at Billow Blast, "say 'just fly higher.'"

They tried half a dozen ideas, but whenever a draft hit somepony, they found themselves snorting mud. Even Snow Veil and Evening Star, a wing who rivaled the twins for grace and synchronization, could not out maneuver the winds. Thunder Clap, being a large chunk of muscle, suffered the most spills by a decent margin. Lily Nimbus tried to fly with the caking mud in her wings, but after an hour, when she and four others could barely get any lift for all the gunk in their feathers, they decided to call it early and get washed up. Comet and Moon Fang had both taken minor spills, but leather is far easier to wipe clean than feathers. 

The pink filly was a tightly wound ball of misery as she sat under the shower head. She didn't even try to clean her wings out, just held them open under the water and moped. Comet finished scrubbing her mane clean and walked over to her wingpony.

"No plumbing, but we still get hot running water. You have to love unicorn magic sometimes." She grabbed a bar of soap and started scrubbing Lily's back. "Come on, Jitterbug, you weren't the only one to take a spill. You'll get it next time." Her lead pony mumbled something. "What?"

"What if next time is in a battle?" Lily looked at her. "What if that was a fight, and a dragon was waiting for me? I can't make mistakes like that, Shimmer, I can't." Sparky Bolts started to say something, but she literally barked at him. Comet put a hoof between her and the blue colt, but her disapproving gaze remained on Lily. The anger ran out of her into the drain, and she slumped. "Sorry, it's just... I just." 

Comet gingerly set the bar of soap against Lily's left wing. "May I?" The pegasus searched her face, then nodded slowly. Comet knew how to clean feathers well enough, and gently scrubbed the caked dirt out from each one. It was a slow process, one they made in utter silence. The rest of their squad had left to make way for a group of earth ponies, all sweaty from fortifying part of the valley trenches, but nopony paid them much mind. "There, how's that?"

Lily Nimbus flapped her wings, spraying water everywhere, and stuck her tongue out at the offended ponies she'd splashed. "You're in a shower, you dolts. Looks good, thanks Comet." The two of them left the shower, the chiroptequus nodding an apology on her way out. The sun was bright despite the early hour, and walking with their wings open let them dry plenty quickly. The pink pegasus watched the storm that had trundled its way north and frowned. 

"When I got to Basic," she said, soft as cotton, "I wanted to be the best. It was like a game, and I wanted to win. I wasn't really thinking about when I would get out here, just how well I could do there. How stupid does that sound?"

"It sounds like something a newbie would have thought."

"Ha, right? And no offense," Lily nudged her wingpony in the gut, "but you weren't exactly high on my list of competition." 

Comet laughed. "I might be offended if I hadn't felt the same way." 

"All anypony was was competition. But after we started doing the evening practices, I realized we were gonna win or lose by each other. I wouldn't 'win' on my own. So I tried to really, I don't know, be a part of the group. I wanted to win, and I wanted us to win. And we did, and now we're here, and I don't know what exactly we won. I just... I just want to survive now, you know?"

"I know, Lily, I really do." Comet looped her leg around Lily' neck and squeezed her close. It was unusual, the filly thought in passing, that she had actually met somepony shorter than her. Two inches was two inches. 

"I need to be perfect 'cause that's the only way. It's all I can do." She returned the hug. "I'm actually glad I got saddled with you, Egghead."

"Same here, Jitterbug." A long, low blast of the horn echoed from the mesa top lookout, out and down across the camp. It was joined by a confirmation from the valley floor, and the duet was joined by a symphony of rattling armor and a chorus of orders. The fillies looked at each other. For the first time since she'd met her, Comet saw something other than boundless energy and confidence in Lily's eyes. Soft purple bags hung underneath the silver spheres, but that was true for all of them. The glimmer in those eyes just seemed somehow duller to the filly.

Comet gave her wingpony a firm squeeze. "Let's go. I'll be right with you all the way." A bit of that zealous fire returned, and the two rushed to where they'd left their armor stowed. As they buckled their suits, they beheld an usual sight: All six ships were rising higher and moving out beyond the trenches. Fir Bough came sprinting past, yelling at some of her ponies outside the tent. "Sergeant Bough, why are the ships moving?"

"Aerial combatants, Airpony. We're on full alert, so get up to the Adamant and find Corkscrew." The squad Fir Bough had been yelling at rounded up by her, and together they launched straight off the ground. Lily pointed out their own squad hovering above the camp, and they rushed to join them. Every pegasus was airborne and bound for a ship, while down below, earth ponies and unicorns rushed to ready turrets they had erected along the mesas. The mud was slowing them down, but only just noticeably. 

The scene aboard the Adamant was no less hectic. Every ballista was being loaded, every loose item was being stowed, everypony was not where they needed to be. Well, Candescence was where she was supposed to be: wherever she was at that moment. Rainbow Blaze and Fir Bough were chatting with her in hushed, frantic tones, and her equally frantic replies seemed at odds with her calm demeanor. 

"What are Cpt. Starstruck and Lt. Firefly saying, then?" Fir Bough chomped on the remainder of her patience.

"It doesn't matter, Fir, the order comes from the colonel. The mesa camps are going to open with a barrage, and you’re all to hang back until that is completed." 

"And if they decide to go after the camp, there's not a lot anypony can do about it. We need to put ourselves between them and the lizards," Rainbow Blaze replied.

"I'm well aware of that, Sergeant," Candescence stated, "but it's not my decision. Our own volleys will accompany theirs, and our wings will be right behind. If the dragons veer for the ground, it might give your pegasi a chance to attack their backs with little opposition."

"That's an awfully big risk to take."

"It's what we have. See that your ponies are in order -- the dragons will be here all too soon." The two sergeants saluted and left the captain to deal with some other matter. They looked to each other, neither one pleased with how things might play out, but orders were orders. Rainbow saw his ponies assembling on the deck and motioned for Fir to go find hers. When the cobalt pegasus's squads had all gathered, he gave them a look over. 

"Alright, everypony, here's what we're working with. Recon indicates upwards of thirty glimmerbacks, possibly two or more broadwings. Capabilities are unknown, so we're erring on the side of caution. The fleet and the mesa batteries are going to do a full salvo once the dragons are in range, hopefully cut them down to a more reasonable number. Apex and Blizzard Platoons, as usual, will be leading the defensive fight, while our job is to hold near to the ships and stop any lizards that break through their line. Any questions?"

"Sir," Skyline said, "what do we do if the dragons go after the ground batteries?"

With an oppressive absence of humor, Rainbow replied, "We'll do what we can to intercept, but I would recommend prayer." Dawn Platoon had already taken up positions on the launch gangway, so Crescent Platoon stood on deck behind them. Multicolored dots appeared on the horizon, too distant to count but closing the distance every second.

"Move it, feather brains, heavy ordinance coming through." Night Light hoisted half a dozen shafts over his head as he scooted past the waiting airponies. "Got to get all these rounds loaded, we only get one go."

"Shouldn't you be conserving energy for your shield, Arcanist? Wouldn't want you getting a headache." Rainbow Blaze smirked.

"Shouldn't you be flapping air rather than blowing it?" The unicorn huffed and hurried to his post. After the battle on the way to Thunderhooves Pass, the crew had restructured their shield teams, placing a group at every ballista station to ensure a more even spread of labor. For the evening blue unicorn, this placed him square in the middle of the starboard side, closest to the oncoming storm. The Adamant, being in a largely conditional role rather than a backbone of the camp's defense, saw action in maybe half their battles to date, but what they had seen had been enough. If he made it through, he swore he would never complain about a quiet job for the rest of his days. 

"Airponies," Rainbow Blaze called out, "be ready to jump on my signal. Remember, we are running defense, so don't stray too far from the fleet." They could see the dragons more clearly now. Thirty had been a gross underestimation; the numbers were closer to four dozen scaled beasts on top of four broadwings. Comet tried to do the math, but her attention kept slipping away. She had seen plenty of dragons already, but never so many flyers. For once, and with a passing instance of shame, she was glad to be relegated to the back. This was not going to end well for any of them.

On a few glimmerbacks, jagged spines, the telltale sign of lightning capability could be seen, dark against their colorful scales. No doubt others spat acid, others fire, some had spiked clubs for tails and others had whips on their butts. But every dragon had something that could kill them; pick your poison, as they say. 

Rain put a hoof on Comet's back. If the indigo filly slipped too deep into her own thoughts, she started to panic. She, Willow by extension, Lily, and Moon Fang tried to stand near her before fights for just that reason. Comet manually slowed her breathing and nodded a bit too frantically. As much as she was focusing on the other pony, Silver dreaded the coming battle just as much. Looking around, she was not sure anypony was really better off. She whispered as much to Comet, and they each patted the pony beside them. Those ponies in turn reassured the next in line, and down and down until everypony was looking to each other. They all seemed to swell with each other, just a little. They would see each other through, just as they had up to then.

Unfortunately, the dragons were bigger now too. Their screeches and roars could be heard over the winds, the great flapping of the broadwings pounding the air like drums. Teeth shown in the sun, scales rippled over flexing muscle, and bloodlust glowed in their eyes. The monsters had come again. 

Their war cries were met with a long blast of a horn, joined by a dozen more, and as one, every ballista Thunderhooves Pass had shot skyward. Hundreds of heavy metal shafts soared at the speed of death for their targets, glintless and foreboding. Upon reaching the dragon flight, they tore through wings, skewered bellies, jabbed through limbs, ripped through necks, sailed past one dragon to strike another, but not enough found purchase , and the dragons that could pressed on. The scaled beasts, they realized, had formed layers, and while the first had been all but wiped out, the ones behind barely had a scratch. Less than a quarter had fallen, and despite their numerous wounds, all four broadwings continued unimpeded. 

The order was given to jump.

Comet and Lily followed their squad up rather than down, helping to leave room for a second volley. The ponies on the ship were rushing to do just that, but it was unclear if they would succeed. True to everypony's fears, a section of the dragon flight had broken off to attack the ground batteries. The earth ponies would be all but powerless against an attack from the air. But their platoon's orders were to hold the line before the ships, so hold they did. Downpour Company left one platoon on reserve as well, but Gale Company was entirely devoted to the charge. 

Comet grimaced as their bravado backfired. A group of glimmerbacks honed in on their group. One of their leaders arched its back like a cat, and the telltale sign of static ruffling fur gave the pegasi the only warning they would receive. In an instant, a blinding bolt of lightning arced from the dragon's back, striking a pegasus square in the chest and arcing to a second. Feathers smoldering and armor seared black, the bodies fell like stones. A furious cry to rival any dragon's rang out from Gale Company, and they rained bloody vengeance down on the flight.

"Wait," Cinnamon Cane said to himself as much as to his squad. He looked to Rainbow Blaze for a command, but the stallion's vizor blocked whatever battle may have been waging in his head. A dozen dragons broke from the battle and made a beeline for the fleet. Behind them, the four broadwings were entering the combat zone. One broke off to attack the camp, but the other three continued surging forward. "Squad Four, climb. We're going to drop on them from above, try to get one or two without much fuss-" 

The prickling sensation along their necks was too short a warning before another lance of electricity shot past them and hit a ballista. The weapon exploded into a thousand blackened shards, one of which struck Cinnamon Cane hard across his back. With a cry more of shock than pain, the pegasus passed out and fell. Wren Song dove after him. With the cream colored mare out of range in a heartbeat, Dewbead and Summer Seas led their squad back to the Adamant.

"Well we're off to a good bucking start. Anypony hurt?" The mare scanned around. 

"One dead, three injured." A pair of unicorns were hauling the body clear of the site. Night Light, two stations away, was cleaning his crewmate's wounded shoulder. All other stations appeared intact. Behind them, Rainbow Blaze roared the attack order, and the three reserve platoons charged. Except Crescent Platoon was down a squad. 

"Nimbus, Bolts, you four stay put and guard the ship. Summer, let's go." They turned to leave, but instead of open air and battle, a thunderous crash and a snarling, scaly, orange maw awaited them. Dewbead opened her mouth to shout, but a blast from the beast's wing knocked her and Summer Seas across the deck. Moon Fang leapt just out of reach of its teeth and countered, spearing a nostril but doing no real damage. If anything, it just pissed the thing off. 

The dragon's tail whipped about, smashing another ballista in two. A trio of shield unicorns blocked another swipe, earning the attention of the beast. It turned on them, eyes burning with fury, and charged across the deck. As it turns out, a single unicorn's shield does very little against a dragon's jaw muscles, something a pink unicorn learned all too late. The perforated body fell to the deck with a wet thud, and the dragon turned on its next victim. 

The airponies had trained for ground combat, but never as hard as for air battles, and never against something four times their size. Sparky Bolts hazarded a glance for Dewbead and Summer Seas, but the veteran pair were still against the far bow. "Squad, form a ring around the monster. Let's keep it boxed in." He ducked under a tail swipe, barely dodging the second blow as it slammed down on where he had been standing. Lily loosed her crossbow bolt at the dragon's face, but against the tough scale, it found no valuable purchase, embedding itself near the base of a horn. The four ponies were finding their polearms becoming woefully inadequate against a beast with a greater reach. 

This proved especially true for Comet when the scaly demon's claw slammed down on her, snapping her glaive shaft in two and sending the blade flipping into the air. Comet would later describe the moment that followed as a panic induced loss of judgement, allowing one to accomplish feats deemed impossible by a rational mind. Lily would simply say it was badass. The indigo filly propelled herself with her wings, caught the broken polearm with her teeth, and landed square on the dragon's nose. For an infinite microsecond, they stared right at each other before Comet gouged out the beast's eye with her glaive-turned-sword. The dragon howled in pain, and she screamed in every summonable emotion, and every time it tried to toss her off, she hacked again and again and again and screamed and hacked and screamed. Moon Fang and Sparky Bolts took the opportunity to dash inside its range and start stabbing at its neck, tearing at the exposed flesh. Lily shifted her spear, leapt up, and drove herself down with all the force she could gather in the tight space. Her spear punctured just enough into the dragon's skull to reach its brain before snapping like a twig. The force of her glaive shattering threw the pink filly to the side, and she tumbled against the dragon's bloody head to the deck. 

Blinded, lobotomized, and choking on its own blood, the dragon collapsed to the deck and lay still. Moon Fang grabbed the still flailing Comet Shimmer and hauled her from the carcass. Her broken glaive was still cemented in her mouth, forcing her to hyperventilate through her nose. 

"Oi, Shimmer, Shimmer come back." Fang waved a hoof in front of her. "Comet, we need you here. There's still dragons. Come on, Airpony!" He banged the side of her helmet, the reverberations knocking the filly back to reality. "Welcome back. Jitterbug, how do you feel?"

"Awful, you idjit." Lily managed to stand on her own, but her left foreleg was tucked close to her. "Think I landed on my shoulder." 

"Can you fly?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Yes or no, Nimbus," Sparky Bolts said, "you're not going out there on a maybe."

"Buck you, I'm good to fight."

"Biter, sitrep?"

"Ready to go," Moon Fang said. 

"Egghead?" Comet gave him the firmest nod she could. "Alright, let's get you two some spears and get back out there." A thunderous crash drew their attention. A broadwing had landed "on" one of Downpour Company's ships, its hind legs finding purchase on the underside of the vessel while its head and wingspan towered over the deck. The blue colt prayed it could not breath fire, or the entire ship would be a cinder in seconds. "We're taking that down."

"How?" 

"... I don't know. You two find some weapons and I'll try to think of something." Comet and Lily started for the stairs, but a groan caught their attention. Dewbead and Summer were stirring, but lacked the strength to untangle themselves from each other. The fillies hurried over and helped them apart.

"Are you ok?" Comet looked her superior over for signs of injury. 

"Concussion, maybe," Dewbead said slowly, "But I'll live. Where's Cane?"

"We haven't seen him since he went down," Lily said. "There's a broadwing attacking another ship, we need to lend them a hoof. Can you fight?"

"Don't think so." Dewbead seemed like she was in two places at once, and Summer Seas winced whenever he flexed his wing. "Summer, can you give them your spear?" 

"Sure, just bring it back. It's lucky, y'know." He unbuckled his weapon and tossed it to Lily. Comet turned to the concussed mare.

"Here, give me your sabres."

"Kid, have you ever even trained with these things?"

"Well, no, but-"

"I have." Lily tossed the spear to her wingpony. "Fort Hurricane had a beat up pair, and I'd try them sometimes during our evening practices. I can fly with them at least." Dewbead grimaced at Lily's inspiring assurance, but a fresh round of throbbing in her skull put any argument out of reach. She slipped the boots off and tossed them to the pink pegasus. "I'll be careful, ma'am."

"You'd bucking better be. If we lose you four and Cane today, we're royally bucked." Dewbead slumped against the deck and rested her eyes. Comet found Night Light helping to realign a ballista. 

"Sir, Dewbead and Summer Seas have been hurt. Can you see a medic gets to them?"

"Count on it, airpony. Go give them hell." Lily trotted up in her "new" sabres; she lacked Dewbead's grace, but at least she was walking. If Sparky Bolts had anything to say about it, he didn't bother.

"Alright," the blue pegasus said, "Slashing its wings won't work, because it's already grounded. Nimbus, you and Shimmer go for its throat, try and get as much damage along its gizzard as you can. Biter, we're going after its face. Keep above it to leave the neck exposed, got it?"

"Right." A storm of feathers and metal rushed past the bow. Squad Two was making a beeline for the broadwing, and Squad Four jumped in after them.  A shadow grew over the pegasi. 

Crystal Lake barely had time to look up and yell, "Break!" before a glimmerback flew through their formation, scattering them like leaves. As they tried to reconvene, Berry Thrush was nowhere to be found. Surf Crest called for them to form up, but the glimmerback was coming around for a second meal. Another glimmerback was between them and the broadwing, though it was busy chasing another squad down. Squad Three rolled out of the way of the dragon, but its tail nearly snapped Evening Star's head from her shoulders. A sickening crunch rang out from the distressed ship as the broadwing tore a chunk from its side.

"That damn lizard is holding us here," Moon Fang shouted, "we've got to get past it. We're sitting ducks as long as we're not moving." 

"It's coming in too fast to land a hit on, what are we supposed to-" The glimmerback charged past again, nearly catching three of the ponies. Thunder Clap let out a colossal warcry and, abandoning all logic, charged the monster as it came around. Seeing an easy kill, it matched the pegasus's flight path. When it was right on top of Thunder, the beast opened its razored maw to swallow the pony whole, and it would have if Gale had not slammed his wingpony out of the way. The dragon's teeth snapped down on the grey pegasus, but not before his glaive ran through the roof of its mouth and out the top of its head. Together, the two fell.

"Gale!" Thunder called after his partner, but there was nopony to respond. A smaller dragon, barely larger than an average pony, took advantage of his stupor and charged in. With a roar to match the beast's, the green pegasus brute flapped out of the dragon's attack, reached out, and snapped its neck with a twist of his hooves, howling murder the entire while. 

Comet couldn't make a decision on what to feel, so logic had to dictate her actions. "The ship's still in trouble," she called to her squad, "we have to go." The four of them collected a near rampaging Thunder Clap and bolted for the broadwing.

It was a wonder the airship was still in one piece. Massive chunks had been ripped from its hull, revealing the decks within to the ire of the massive beast hooked to the side. On the top deck, ponies blasted it with magic and poked with spears, but a single swipe of its claw would knock them back against the walls, or worse, overboard. As the two haggard squads approached, it turned to observe the would be attackers. A fire burned in its green eyes, one that Comet had never seen in another dragon. It seemed entirely aware of their intent and shrank against the side of the ship, swatting at them with its incredible wingspan. 

"Egghead, follow me in!" Lily Nimbus rolled through a corkscrew and blasted forward with Comet only feet behind her. As the beast’s wings flexed for another swat, she rolled sideways, the blades mounted on her hooves cutting through the leathery webbing and clearing a path for her wingpony. That put them in front of the broadwing, who seemed genuinely surprised to see them before letting out a deafening roar and shifting to swipe at them. Comet bounded off the bow of the ship, using the leverage to propel herself at the creature's neck. She collided with the scaly gizzard with enough force to knock the air from her lungs, but once she had collected herself, she found her glaive embedded to the hilt in the dragon's neck. 

Lily, meanwhile, was making a series of tight turns, lacerating the flesh wherever she could. A series of heavy thumps resonated below them; the ballista stations were firing point blank into the dragon's gut, though it didn't seem to pay them much mind. It did, however, notice the two colts thrusting at its eyes. In a panic, the broadwing swiped at the air, backhanding Sparky Bolts and sending him flying. Moon Fang had to break off his attack to help his unconscious wingpony, leaving Comet and Lily alone on the beast's neck. 

"Why won't it just die already?" After nearly twenty passes, Lily was out of breath. Her cuts were deep, but not enough to slow the beast down. It wasn't working. They weren't stopping it. "What do we do, Comet?" Squad Two slipped in at that moment, assaulting along its head and underbelly with as much success as the two fillies were having. 

"I don't know," Comet shouted, "it should at least be feeling this. Something's wrong." The dragon tried to knock away the attackers around its face with a shake of its head, nearly throwing Comet free in the process. The filly wracked her brain while she held on for dear life, trying to think of anything that might work. What came to mind was the weakest idea she had ever had, including her plan from the Gambit.

"Thunder Clap!" the indigo filly called out. To her luck, the green stallion heard her and made his way closer. "I need your ridiculous leg power." She wrenched her spear free of the dragon flesh and met him along the side of the dragon's neck. "Jitterbug, cover us." 

Lily wasn't sure what she was supposed to cover from until she got a better look around. The glimmerback from earlier had noticed the broadwing's distress and was closing in to help. She gave Comet a desperate look, but only received an equally desperate response. Swallowing fear and bile, Lily took off.

Comet unbuckled her spear and jammed it between two scales on the broadwing's neck. "If I'm right, the jugular artery should be right here. Ogre, I need you to buck this spear in as hard as you can until there's nothing left to buck." Thunder Clap nodded, lined himself up in midair, and kicked with all his might. His now unbridled fury for Gale Force drove half the spear into the dragon's neck, drawing a spurt of thick, dark blood from the wound. Whether the dragon was aware of the injury or not, it was aware of the now faster loss of blood. Its vision started to blur, and its movements slowed. 

Leaving Thunder to kicking, Comet looked to find her wingpony. The pegasus was leading the glimmerback on a frantic chase, looping back around it to leave shallow cuts along its back and sides. Weaponless, Comet didn't have many options, but leaving Lily alone against that thing was not among the few she did have. Jumping off from the scaly surface of the broadwing's bloody neck, Comet propelled herself at the glimmerback. At the last second, it turned and saw her. With a predatory grin, it opened its mouth; a roiling, orange glow could be seen building in its throat, a fiery gift for the little chirpotequus. She tried to roll away, but she had seen a dragon's fire plume; she did not have the room to escape.

The wind itself came crashing down across the glimmerback, slicing its neck open and spilling blood and fire everywhere. With the most pathetic of gurgles, it flapped no more and fell. Firefly looped back around and formed up with the two fillies. Slightly singed, slightly bloody, but both alive, Firefly could accept. "You seem to be missing something there, Airpony."

"It's in use, ma'am." Comet pointed at the broadwing. Its movement had all but stopped. Its head hung wearily to the side as it used what little strength it had left to cling to the ship. Its grip tightened just too much for the wooden beams to handle, and with a crunch, they tore away from the airship, denying the beast its perch and casting it from the vessel for good. For an instant, Comet thought she saw the dragon's blood turn green, but she shook her head and it was gone. 

Hazarding a look around, the fillies found the sky almost devoid of dragons. Three continued to assault the ground batteries, but with the skies cleared, the air platoons were raining down on them like angry hornets. Lily turned to engage with them, but Firefly gripped her firmly by the shoulder.

"Ease down, newbie. You lot did good up here. Get back to the Adamant and sit tight until Sgt. Blaze gets there."

"Ma'am, Sgt. Cane went down, Lancer Song went after them, and we haven't seen them since. Sgt. Thrush and Airpony Force," Comet forced the words, "they're both..." 

Firefly was about as easy to read as an ancient Zebrican incantation. "We'll get a search going for those two once things have calmed down. Get back to the Adamant. Boomerang," She called to Surf Crest, "Get your squad and these foals back to your ship."

"Aye ma'am." The senior officer led them back to the ship. Once they landed, the ponies looked to see what they had saved. The name “Bulwark” could barely be made out around a hole the dragon’s tail had smashed through the painted wood. A quarter or more of the hull had been ripped free of the ship, exposing large sections of the vessel's guts. How many ponies had been pulled overboard when they were suddenly exposed to the outside? Most of the ballistae along the starboard side had been ripped away, as well as all of the sail rigging along the ship. Even from the Adamant, a sickening crunch could be heard as part of the ship threatened to break loose and hurl itself to the ground. 

Moon Fang formed up with his squad as they neared the Adamant. Sparky Bolts was close behind him, but his flight path veered dangerously every few seconds. The orange chiroptequus helped his wingpony to the deck before landing himself.

“Surf Crest, Ma’am,” Moon Fang turned to the lancer, “About Cinnamon Cane and Wren Song-”

“Relax, airpony. We’ll find them, but not until the skies are cleared.” Surf Crest gave Moon Fang a look, not one of reprimanding or condemnation, not agitation or impatience, just weariness. The weight kept dragging her to the deck with every breath until she couldn’t keep her head up. “We’ll find them.” And she sat and watched them clean up of the last dragons and said no more. 

~*~

Cinnamon Cane and Wren Song had made it to the ground mostly in one piece, and they were both coherent and in agreeable spirits. The blow to the brown pegasus’s haunch had cracked a bone and bruised the entire area, but luckily had not shattered it as he had suspected. Wren, ever the loyal wingpony, had stood guard over him for hours. They had also found the broadwing that ransacked the Bulwark, and was able to retrieve Summer Seas’s spear from deep in the monster’s neck.

Summer Seas had indeed sprained a wing, Dewbead had suffered a concussion, and Lily Nimbus had bruised her shoulder falling from the glimmerback. Sparky Bolts, despite the backhand, was released with only a warning to rest for a couple days. With five injured, Squad Four was among the luckiest. Squad Two had lost two ponies, nearly everypony in Squad Three had taken a beating, and Squad One had four injuries and a fatality. Coriolis, their quiet but stoic captain, had led them against one of the broadwings. When it turned on him, he ordered them to fly on and drew its attention away to let his squad press the attack. It had succeeded, but nopony could find him after. They found a few scraps of mangled evidence on the desert floor while searching for Cinnamon Cane and Wren Song that afternoon. 

Nopony dared a song or a victorious cheer. Nopony dared to speak more than they had to. The Bulwark half limped, half crashed into the top of the east mesa as the sun started to set. Its crew, bloodied and broken, made their way off the ship to the welcoming campfires of the ground battalions. A few times, Comet heard the word “scuttled” in relation to the ravaged airship, but it was low on her list of concerns. 

Willow Wisp helped a straining Silver Raindrops to her bunk. Her back was wrapped in bandages where a glimmerback’s claws had managed to penetrate her armor. The shining plate had done its job on the whole, and the blow had not caused any lasting damage, but it would keep the brick red pegasus grounded for a while. Comet stayed near the pair, twisting her contraption silently and offering her aid whenever she could. Her notebook sat forgotten on her bunk somewhere, its list of combinations waiting to be amended, but at this point, she had given up on it. It had seemed so important at one point, but what had come of it? What had her puzzling done for her? For them? For Gale Force?

When they’d landed, a few dragon corpses had lain strewn across the mesa. Thunder Clap, nostrils flared and eyes glowing red, threw anypony between him and a choice corpse aside and spent the next hour cutting it to ribbons. When at last they managed to haul him away, puffy eyed and hoarse, he didn’t have the strength left to walk, and groaned where he wanted to howl as they carried him off. 

Moon Fang and Sparky Bolts arrived with Lily and sat beside the silent chiroptequus. The pink pony’s foreleg was slung up to keep her off it, but her spirits seemed little worse for wear. She smiled for Comet, but when all she got was a blank face, the smile slipped off and pooled on the dirt floor. Comet tried to force a smile, but all she felt was her face twitching from the effort. She looked to the couple, nursing each other as best they could, and clenched her jaw.

“I’m sorry,” Comet hissed, “I’m so sorry.” Moon Fang wrapped a foreleg around the filly and held her. "If I hadn't recommended you... You guys... Gale..."

“You didn’t do anything, Shimmer. If anything, you kept us together. That means a lot right now. ” Comet wanted to cry, but there was too much sorrow, too much anger, too much confusion, too much weariness, too much pride, and too much shame to allow the tears to flow. So she resigned to leaning against the sorbet colt and closed her eyes, hoping somehow sleep would find her and take everything away. 

Instead, it was the twins that found them. Moon Beam looked almost chipper, all things considered, but her sister’s smile was hindered by a bandage that wrapped around her head. “No,” she preempted, “I’ve still got both eyes. I couldn't rock the eyepatch look anyway. I took a claw along my helmet. Those things are really sharp, did you know?”

“I do, actually,” Silver muttered. Willow snorted with amusement and stroked her mane. “I hate to sound… cold, but how are we doing? Who all did we lose?”

“I can’t say about the other platoons,” Sparky Bolts said, “but for Crescent: Coriolis, Berry Thrush, and Gale Force.” One had to admire how objectively he could deliver the news. They were just names, almost. But the room hung on them, as if waiting for their owners to come and claim them. “Half of Squad Four is injured, half of Squad One, Two slipped away without injury, and most of Three is grounded. Our platoon is down about half its strength.” 

“So you all were here. ” The tent curtain ruffled as Rainbow Blaze allowed himself in. Those that could, saluted, and he waved them to ease before anyone tried too hard. “Bolts is right, I’m afraid. The other platoons aren’t much better, either. All told, I think we lost nine ponies today. The Bulwark’s crew suffered a lot worse; the ship is going to be scuttled tomorrow. The Adamant, thank Celestia, only lost a couple, same for the Dauntless and the Starfall.”

“What about the ground batteries, sir?”

“They held out alright, but the figures aren’t good. Even with unicorn magic, dragon strafing attacks are too dangerous.” The cobalt pegasus rubbed his forehead. “I don’t have a final count for casualties, but it will be bad. We didn’t do anything wrong, I think, we just couldn’t have done anything better. So don’t think you could have.” He took a moment to lock eyes with each of them. “There’s nothing good down that road. I have to go find Billow Blast and decide who will lead Squad One. Apex Platoon suffered the least today, so they’ve volunteered the CAG tonight. Get some sleep, all of you.” They saluted as he left the tent. He wished, for a moment, that he could sit with them all night and leave the war to somepony else. But somepony had to see the backend through. 

Part of that backend was sitting on a crate, drowning the day in cider and watching the next storm roll in. Thunder Clap was a heavy drinker, but lucky for him, the tap ran deep. When Rainbow approached, he managed a salute, but failed to stand.

"Enjoying the view, Airpony?"

Thunder Clap inspected his mug intently. "It comes and goes, sir." He downed the rest of it in one go.

"You should get some sleep, Clap. Tomorrow's another day."

"'m not going out there again, sir." The green pegasus's back hunched.

"Come again?"

"'m not flying. I can't. 'm not gonna get anypony else killed."

"Somepony might get killed for not having all our ponies up there."

"Damned if I do, damned if I don't, might as well keep out the way then." Thunder Clap made to refill his mug, but Rainbow Blaze cut him off with a hoof. "I won't have it, sir, and you shouldn't either."

"You looking for an easy way out, Airpony?"

"'m looking for credit where credit is due, sir."

Rainbow sighed. "Gale Force wasn't your fault-"

"It's entirely my bucking fault!" For somepony who had screamed himself hoarse, Thunder still had a lot of boom left. "I was trying to be a bucking hero, throwing myself on the wire for my squad to break through. If I died taking down that glimmerback for them, fine, it's an ok thing to go for. But Gale, he comes in and throws himself in my place, 'cause that's what he does. He looks out for ponies, you know? I don't think he could hate anypony if he wanted to.

"Gale died looking out for me. He died because I did something stupid and he was doing his job. So please, sir, tell me what part of that isn't my fault."

Rainbow Blaze silently stared at the pony as he mulled over the confession. "The part where Gale Force was who he was. He put you over himself the same way you put your squad first, the same way you would have put him over you. Learn from today, do better, and maybe next time you won't lose anypony. There are still ponies counting on you. Half our platoon is grounded. The ones who can fly need every able body they can. Are you going to let them down?"

Thunder tried to grab the words back as they left his mouth. "Absolutely not, sir." It was what he meant, even if everything he felt said otherwise.

"Then get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be another long day." Rainbow gave the burly green pegasus a pat on the shoulder and headed off into the night. Thunder Clap made to refill his mug, stopped, and looked at the container. Like it had come alive in his hoof, he threw it away in disgust and beat his head against the barrel. Through the grimace of pain on so many levels, he swore to himself, not again. Never again.

The sound of thunder rolled across the mesa for the second night in a row. The autumn storms were stacking up, and the deluge was promising to be just as heavy as last night.