The Twilight War

by Brian Dagame

6. Just a Show of Muscle

Despite the early hour and lack of sleep in the past few days, Silver Strike felt alert. He sporadically heard hoofsteps from patrolling guards in distant parts of the castle. The direction and timing of these sounds told him exactly which of his guards he was hearing.

He was pleased to hear that everypony was sticking to their patrolling schedule, despite the mad scramble they had just been through. Over the last three days the castle had both doubled its guard and replaced the thestrals of the Night Guard with Royal Guard ponies.

In the periods of silence between hoofsteps, Silver Strike stared at the door of Princess Celestia’s chamber. A small part of him hoped that somepony inside would somehow feel his stare and invite him in already. He had no idea if the reason he was called here was good or bad, but he was dying to find out.

Silver Strike almost felt amused at his own impatience. During his career in the Royal Guard he had spent a lot of time standing in hallways waiting for somepony to tell him to move. Doing so had resulted in a practically endless amount of patience. But apparently all it took to break him was Princess Celestia using the word urgently when she asked to see him.

When he was finally invited inside, Silver Strike immediately noticed Prince Gusev sitting across from the princess and frowned.

After curtly greeting the prince, Silver Strike sat down next to the princess and looked around expectantly, waiting for somepony to fill him in.

Celestia spoke up first. “I assume you probably have some questions about the prince’s presence here?”

It was the understatement of a lifetime, but Silver Strike did not let it show. He simply nodded.

“He came here with information that could be valuable to the war effort. We have been making plans to use that information as effectively as possible."

“Have we been able to verify this information at all?” Silver Strike asked as he turned to Prince Gusev. “I do not mean to offend, but I think you know why I have to ask…”

Gusev brushed the remark aside with a gesture from his claw before he answered. “I have already assured the Princess that I will be her prisoner for the duration of this war. Should the information I have provided be wrong, she may do with me as she likes.”

Celestia must have caught the worried expression on Silver Strike’s face because she quickly added, “I have already selected a few of your guards to watch over Prince Gusev during his stay at the castle. The reason why I have called you here is because we need your help with a strategy we have devised based on the new information.”

“Is this about whatever Diamond Prism and Cloud Spear are up to? I have heard rumors about some secret mission from my guards.”

“No. Prince Gusev’s information has led to the creation of multiple strategies. But Diamond Prism and Cloud Spear might make your mission easier for you. They are aiming to score a military victory, while you are going after a more precise target. If they are successful you might be able to take advantage of the chaos they create.”

Silver Strike raised an eyebrow. “What sort of target am I going after?”

“Aurora Shade. We have no idea why Luna took her with her. We don’t even know whether she came willingly or if she was captured. What we do know is that we need her back no matter what. Aurora Shade possesses an extreme amount of magical knowledge. If she cooperates with Luna, there is no telling what kind of damage they would be capable of.”

“Okay, it is a recovery mission then,” Silver Strike said. “So how am I supposed to get her back?”

“This is where I come in,” Gusev said. “I think it is safe to assume that she is being held in Hollow Shades, right? It is notoriously well fortified and currently serves as Luna’s base of operations after all.”

Silver Strike simply nodded, having no idea where Gusev was going with this.

“We all know even a large army would struggle to breach Hollow Shades. But what if I told you there was a way in that did not involve a large-scale siege? What if there was a long-forgotten passage that would allow you to slip in unseen?”

Silver Strike could no longer hold back. “Long forgotten by everyone but you… How very convenient.”

“Long forgotten by everyone but my father actually,” Gusev nonchalantly corrected. “He is still mad about it. Apparently, griffon soldiers used it all the time during the last war. Mostly to trade for alcohol and other narcotics. Father believes that it was a major contributing factor to our defeat.”

“So where do I go to find this passage?”

“There are these ruins right next to Hollow Shades. Remnants of some ancient civilization I suppose. Ponies tend to avoid them because of their proximity to the thestrals. The thestrals avoid them because…” Prince Gusev paused and chuckled dryly. “Well, who knows why the bats do anything?

“I know those ruins,” Silver Strike said. “I saw them on the way to a diplomatic meeting at Hollow Shades a few years back.

“What you probably don’t know about these ruins is how vast they truly are. Most of them are underground. I trust you follow where I am going with this?”

“I enter the ruins, go to the basement, walk over to Hollow Shades and pop back up.”

That elicited a generous laugh from Prince Gusev. “You certainly make it sound very manageable. I admire the optimism.”

“I suppose every plan seems easy when it is still just a plan. Still, bringing at least a few guards to watch my back would not be a bad idea.”

“I figured you would take one or two guards with you and disguise yourselves as traveling merchants,” Celestia said. “Nopony would look at you twice until you are right outside of Hollow Shades.”

“What am I to do if Aurora Shade doesn’t come willingly?”

Celestia did not hesitate. “Whatever you have to.”

Silver Strike thought for a moment and nodded. “We could leave within the hour if you believe this is the right course of action, Princess.”

“I have to believe that.”

---

General Cloud Spear looked at the pegasi before him. All members of the Crimson Company stood in a perfectly straight line. They stared back at him blankly, but he could see right through them. They were all feeling ready. Ready to put an end to this conflict. Ready to return hope to a nation that was quickly losing it. He couldn’t have been prouder of them in that moment.

Even though they obviously had no need for it, it was still up to him to make a motivational speech. “Listen up,” he started. “In a few moments we will finally get to leave this depressing hole and breathe some fresh air again. We will rendezvous with the airships and set out to rain down terror on our enemies. Sound good?”

“Yes, general!” the Crimson Company shouted back at him in unison.

“Our noble friends, the unicorns, will travel to our destination in style aboard the airships. No doubt they will be sitting in cushioned seats and sipping on fancy wine. Meanwhile we will be flying alongside them in the freezing cold that comes with high altitudes. And when the bats show up, we get to act as a living shield. Still sound good to you?”

“Yes, general!” they shouted again.

“As I expected. None of you are big on wine anyway. But if you manage to not embarrass me in front of my new unicorn friends today, I will buy rounds of beer until all of you can no longer stand. Now how does that sound?”

Their response was almost deafening this time. “Sounds good, general!”

“Let’s move out then. Nothing is more embarrassing than showing up late!”

The Crimson Company took off as one and left the mineshaft.

---

Diamond Prism was miserable. The low hum of the magically propelled engines was giving her a headache. The heat inside the airship's carriage was almost as unbearable as the smell of sweat and whatever mysterious fuel they were using. The carriage was also vibrating so intensely she could feel her teeth rattle. This was going to be a problem, especially since they had several more hours of flying to go.

Rather than knocking herself out with booze as Cloud Spear had jokingly suggested before takeoff, Diamond Prism decided to go over the plan again and see if they missed anything.

Their target was an old griffon hangar disguised as a large farm. It was located just outside of some densely populated areas. This meant they had to be careful to avoid collateral damage. Luckily the bombs the griffons had left behind weren’t too powerful. If they dropped them right on target, the resulting explosions shouldn’t be too much of an issue to the surrounding area.

There were likely going to be thestrals guarding the hangar. This meant that after the airships dropped the bombs and the element of surprise was gone, they were pretty much guaranteed to get swarmed. Cloud Spear and the Crimson Company had their work cut out for them.

This part of the plan concerned Diamond Prism the most. There would be no backup if they needed it and no easy way to slip away if they ran into problems. Cloud Spear had assured her that the Crimson Company was used to working under these conditions, but Diamond Prism could not help feeling uneasy.

She kept milling over these concerns until she realized this was wearing on her more than the sound of the engines. She got up without really knowing where she was going.

Around her she saw all her fellow unicorns preparing for the possibly of combat in their own ways. Some were readying their weapons, meticulously restringing bows and crossbows. Some had gathered in groups to talk. Others were sitting by themselves, either sleeping or lost in thought. The mood was grim and oppressive. Diamond Prism could not blame them. None of them had ever seen real combat before.

Without really meaning to, Diamond Prism ended up at the door leading to the airship’s flight deck. Figuring it would probably be a bit less noisy and miserable in there, she walked in. Inside, she found two unicorns. One of the was behind a large wooden steering wheel, while the other was inspecting a map. Both of them snapped to attention as they noticed her. “Officer on deck!” one of them shouted.

“Relax guys, I only came her to find a place where I can actually hear my own thoughts.”

“Well you came to the right place then!” the unicorn behind the ship's wheel said. “It's pretty nice up here. I am White Honey by the way. And my copilot here is Sweet Lilly.”

“I'm General Diamond Prism. Just Prism to you though, since I'm a guest on your flight deck.”

“Well, make yourself at home, Prism,” White Honey said as she returned her attention to the large windshield in front of her. It was quite a view. Even though they were magically enhanced to be stealthier, both the Lawgiver and Vengeful Widow were visible flying in front of them.

After enjoying the view for a bit, Diamond Prism looked around the rest of the flight deck. It was bland, just a few chairs and posters with instructions in Gryphonian. Despite knowing some basics of the language, Diamond Prism could not even begin to comprehend the technical terminology before her.

“So, are you two experts in griffon technology or something?” Diamond Prism asked. “Is that why you were picked to fly this thing?”

“No, not really...” Sweet Lilly said. “Before yesterday we had no idea what any of this stuff was. But it is pretty intuitive actually.

“Yeah... Better not mention that to anypony back there,” White Honey added. “I don’t think we have enough water on board to clean up all the resulting vomit.”

Diamond Prism felt a bit queasy herself after hearing that bit of news, but she decided not to press the issue. Both ponies seemed to know what they were doing well enough so far. She plopped down on one of the chairs and enjoyed the relative silence for a while. The airship's engines were still audible, but at least she could concentrate here.

“You know, it is pretty cool to have you on our flight deck,” Sweet Lilly said.

“Why's that?”

“Well, you are kind off a childhood hero of mine.”

“Childhood? Am I that old?”

“Nah,” Sweet Lilly said with a sly smile. “I'm just very young. I signed up for the guard the day I was old enough to do so. I was at least partially inspired by the tales of your adventures overseas.”

That took Diamond Prism by surprise. The details of her work abroad had always been cause for speculation, but so far nopony talked about it to her so freely. She had honestly forgotten that she had acquired such a reputation. “I guess I owe you an apology then. I imagine being a guardsmare is lot more boring than those old bits of gossip make it seem.”

Sweet Lilly chuckled. “That's absolutely true. But I do like being a guardsmare. I got to make a ton of new friends like White Honey here. And from what she told me, I figured that things being boring might be a good thing after all.”

“True that!” White Honey said. “Boring is great. Being bored means you're probably not about to kick the bucket. I hope this mission will be boring. I hope every other mission until the end of this silly war is boring.”

“I couldn't agree more. Where did you pick up that bit of wisdom?” Diamond Prism said.

“Before I joined the guard, I used to work on a trading ship. That is why they let me steer this flying coffin. I have some experience with boats at least. But every now and then we would run into pirates. It got very grim some of those times. That is why I decided I would rather be a guard and be bored out my mind all day.”

“Thank Celestia these airships are not common anymore these days.” Sweet Lilly said. “Can you imagine how terrifying airship pirates would be?”

Diamond Prism had to agree with her. “One thing I don't get though. You say you like boredom, but pretty soon this airship will probably be the least boring place in all of Equestria.”

“Worth it!” White Honey deadpanned. “The sooner we kick we kick some bat butt, the sooner we can get back to sweet, sweet boredom!”

“Hear, hear!” Sweet Lilly yelled as she gave her friend a mock salute.

Diamond Prism grinned and shook her head. These two ponies reminded her a lot of younger versions of herself: tons of energy and a love for adventure, without being overly reckless. She made a mental note to transfer both of them over to her personal detail as soon as the war was over.

“You are in charge of this mission, so you might know a little more than us,” White Honey said, suddenly a lot more serious now. “Do you have any idea what sort of resistance we can expect once we reach our target?”

“If we are lucky, none. The idea is that they do not see us until we start dropping bombs on their heads. Any survivors would hopefully be smart enough to run away after that.”

“I have never been very lucky…” White Honey said.

“Yeah, me neither. If they do see us coming, they will probably assume it's just a show of muscle and attempt to call our bluff. Even if they don't see us coming we'd be in for quite a fight. But between our first-class escort and my company of unicorns, we have plenty of means to fight them off if that happens.”

White Honey was about to reply when they were interrupted by a knock. General Cloud Spear stepped on the flight deck and immediately addressed Diamond Prism. “The company just finished scouting ahead.”

“Did you see anything noteworthy?” Diamond Prism asked.

“Nothing we did not expect, but we have confirmed the presence of thestrals. One of them actually went outside for a smoke,” he said with a look of disgust.

“Fucking bats…” Diamond Prism and White Honey said at the exact same time. White Honey immediately straightened her posture and was suddenly very focused on steering the ship, pretending she did not just speak out of turn.

“How long until we arrive?” Diamond Prism asked.

“Should be a little more than an hour. I've already given the Lawgiver and Vengeful Widow instructions to speed up.”

“Okay, I should have everything ready by then.”

The next hour went by quickly. Diamond Prism instructed the guards to prepare to defend the airship. Then she talked to the mechanics to make sure they had everything in place to start the bombing run. Finally, she managed to call over a member of the Crimson Company from outside and got an update on their situation.

After she was done, she headed back for the flight deck. She decided to be in there for the bombing run. She'd have the best view of what's going on both on the ground and in the air.

“You're just in time,” White Honey said as she walked in. “Our target should come into view any second now.”

Diamond Prism joined the two other ponies in front of the windshield. She stared at the farm as it slowly began to become more detailed. Both the Lawgiver and the Vengeful Widow were already rapidly descending to prepare for their bombing run.

“Their trajectory is looking good,” White Honey mumbled to nopony in particular. “They should be starting the party within a minute. We clean up what remains.” Suddenly her eyes went wide with shock as she watched a large ball of fire envelop the Lawgiver. “What the-”

The shockwave from the explosion hit the Infinite Devil Machine and all three ponies were violently thrown to the ground. The airship got knocked off course and began to tilt as it was pulling sharply to the right.

“What just happened?” Diamond Prism yelled as she scrambled to get back up.

White Honey quickly grabbed hold of the steering wheel to steady the airship. “The Lawgiver just exploded!”

Diamond Prism finally managed to stand back up and looked through the windshield. “Oh no...” she said. “There goes the Widow...”

Another shockwave hit the flight deck. The windshield shattered from the impact, showering the ponies with broken glass. All three of them hit the deck and shielded their faces with their hooves but got some nasty cuts on other parts of their body.

Diamond Prism jumped up as soon as the shockwave had passed. “We are next! Turn us around while I tell the rest what’s happening!”

As soon as she was through the door, she got hit by a massive heat wave and a blinding light. She opened her mouth to scream, but she was drowned out by an ear-splitting explosion. Then everything went dark.

---

General Cloud Spear could not believe what he just witnessed. Within just a few seconds the entire fleet was in ruins. His shock and panic quickly made place for his anger.

"Those explosions came from inside the airships!" somepony nearby yelled. "Those treacherous bats knew we were coming and somehow used our own bombs against us!"

“General, what are your orders?” another yelled.

Cloud Spear quickly forced himself to calm down. Right now, he needed to make decisions and he needed to do it fast. He looked down.

The Lawgiver was already gone. The explosion done a number on its balloon and the whole thing had fallen out of the sky like a brick.

The Vengeful Widow had fared slightly better, but the gondola was heavily damaged and burning. He seriously doubted if he would be able to pull anypony out of there alive. The balloon was still mostly intact, but the airship was slowly drifting in circles.

The Infinite Devil Machine was moving erratically, clearly struggling to escape. Most of the gondola looked to be still intact. And while the envelope of the balloon was heavily damaged, it looked like it might be able to hold up long enough for an emergency landing.

“Unit one on me!” he finally yelled. “We will attempt to help out the Widow. Everypony else defend the Devil Machine. Buy them the time they need to safely land. The bats will be here any second now to finish them off.”

The message was quickly passed on and soon the entire Crimson Company was moving as one. Despite the horrible situation, Cloud Spear felt proud of them.

After Cloud Spear was joined by the ten members of unit one, they headed towards the Vengeful Widow.

By the time they were halfway there, dozens of thestrals were already taking off from the farm. “We have less time than I thought!” Cloud Spear yelled over the sound of the wind and roaring flames. “Get inside the airship and either put out that fire or get any survivors out of there! I'll discourage any curious bats!”

As they reached the Vengeful Widow, the other pegasi flew straight into the burning gondola, without a moment of hesitation. Cloud Spear circled the airship as he kept an eye on the now more than hundred airborne thestrals. He felt a mix of relieve and dismay as he realized that every single one of them was heading towards the Infinite Devil Machine. They might be able to get some ponies out of the Vengeful Widow, but how could the rest of the Crimson Company be able to hold off this many enemies?

After finishing another circle around the airship, Cloud Spear noticed a lone figure flying towards him. For a second, he could not help but smile at the thought that this thestral was dumb enough to take him on alone.

His smile quickly turned into a grimace as the figure came close enough to recognize. He gave a quick jerk with his wings, causing the wing blades on his harness to fold out and lock into place.

He knew the smartest thing to do would be to run away and force Maulden to chase him. This would buy him time until the others emerged from the airship and would be able to help him. He also knew there was no way he could ever do that. A lot of good ponies were already dead and the cause of all that grief was heading straight towards him. He hovered into place, just a few meters away from the Vengeful Widow's balloon.

Maulden felt elated as he dove towards Cloud Spear. Now was his chance to get back at one of the ponies that made his life miserable for years. The fact that he would be able to face Cloud Spear one on one made it all the better for him.

When Cloud Spear dodged him at the very last second, Maulden was hardly surprised. He had been expecting it even. He quickly adjusted his course and kicked out his hind legs to use the Vengeful Widow's balloon as a springboard. He launched himself in the same direction that Cloud Spear had lunged in and just like that he was right behind him, ready to strike.

Cloud Spear simply rolled out the way of his blow without even turning his head and took advantage by turning around and launching his own attack. He intended to simply tackle Maulden in midair, hoping to catch him off guard. Maulden caught on quickly however, shielding himself with his wing. Cloud Spear barely managed to abort his tackle in time to avoid flying straight into a winged blade. He awkwardly swerved around Maulden.

Maulden realized the advantage was his again now and pressed it by following closely. He knew that Cloud Spear would just roll out the way again if he tried striking with his wing blade, so he decided to hold off on attacking until he was close enough for an unavoidable hit.

Cloud Spear was not making it easy for him. He kept dodging in seemingly random directions and cleverly made use of his environment by trying to bait Maulden into crashing into the Vengeful Widow several times.

Maulden felt torn. He realized that if he just kept following Cloud Spear, he would eventually get the opening he was waiting for. But the longer it took, the more time Cloud Spear's guards had to finish their rescue mission and join the fight.

Maulden eyed the Vengeful Widow nervously, before deciding on a new approach. He veered away from Cloud Spear and darted towards the Vengeful Widow.

Before Cloud Spear fully realized what was going on, Maulden had already managed to cut one of the cables that connected the Vengeful Widow's gondola to the balloon above it. As the gondola began to tilt, Cloud Spear cursed under his breath and rushed to catch up with Maulden.

Eager to take advantage of this reversal of roles, Maulden took off and allowed Cloud Spear to follow him. Just as Cloud Spear had done before, Maulden led his pursuer through crazy dashes around the airship. During one evasive roll he felt Cloud Spear's wing blade graze his left hind leg. He ignored it and focused on the task ahead of him. Once he had found just the right position, Maulden suddenly stopped mid-air and spun around.

Realizing his mistake too late, Cloud Spear could do nothing to avoid a kick to his head. For a few seconds everything went dark as he felt himself tumbling out of control. Just as he regained his senses and prepared to steady himself, he crashed harder than he had ever done before.

For a few seconds Cloud Spear just laid on his back, completely disoriented and struggling to catch his breath. After he managed to open his eyes and lift his head, he realized he had not crashed into the ground, but had collided with the Vengeful Widow's balloon and was lying on top of it.

He tried to get up, but immediately stopped when he felt a sharp pain in his ribs. His wings were numb and unresponsive as well. There was nothing he could do as Maulden calmly landed next to him with a frightening, almost deranged grin.

Without saying anything, Maulden grabbed Cloud Spear’s wing and dragged him towards the front of the balloon. Cloud Spear struggled and trashed, but his broken body was no match for the thestral’s brute strength.

When they reached the very front of the balloon, Maulden let go of Cloud Spear. “Take a last look at your failures,” He said as he pointed down.

Cloud Spear followed his hoof and saw the burning wreckage of the Lawgiver. The flames had spread to form an enormous forest fire. It was obvious there was no way that anypony got out alive.

Then Cloud Spear looked ahead of him. The Infinite Devil Machine was still flying and still being defended by the Crimson Company, but it was clear that the thestrals were winning the fight.

Cloud Spear hung his head. Just as the tears started to well up in his eyes, he felt a pair of forelegs wrap around his neck and begin to squeeze.

Cloud Spear immediately saw red flashes in the corners of his vision as Maulden strangled him. He could hear nothing but his own heartbeat. He desperately tried to free himself by prying the legs from his throat, but there was no point. Maulden was one of the strongest foes he ever faced and currently had every advantage possible.

As his head began to feel like it was about to explode and his vision was narrowing, Cloud Spear made a last desperate attempt to escape by rolling out of the stranglehold, but Maulden simply squeezed even harder.

The sound of Cloud Spear’s heartbeat was replaced by a loud buzzing as his narrowing field of vision turned completely black. For a moment he felt his entire body violently trashing. Then there was nothing.

After Maulden was completely sure that Cloud Spear had died, he simply tossed his body over the side of the balloon, into the blazing inferno below.

"One general down, two to go," he whispered under his breath as he took off towards the Infinite Devil Machine.