Turbulence

Lightning crashed though her field of view like a whip, leaving behind only a bright flash and a resounding crack. It if wasn't for her headgear, Rainbow Dash might have been left blind and deaf. For now, it only left her with a faint ringing in her ears and a spot in her vision that kept moving as she blinked. It wasn't her idea to fly into a thunderstorm. Even with the suit's anti-electrical traits, Wonderbolts just don't take risks like this without good reason.

War is a pretty damn good reason.

Dash stole a glance down towards the ground. Though the rain she could make out a unified force of Earth Ponies and Unicorns. Their mass moving as one, battlecries just making it over the din of the storm as their armor of warm colors stood out against the dark ground. She knew that her friend, her rival in everything athletic, was in a similar mass of soldiers. The thought worried the pegasus and she looked upward towards the enemy force crossing the field. Their armor, black and in tatters. Their species indistinguishable though the sickness that infected them all.

A sharp report in her ear shot Dash's eyes forward. They were not alone in the skies. Before her a swarm of countless winged forms spread out. Claws and vicious looking weapons raised with intent to harm. A second report, a command this time. Scatter, pick your targets, clear the air. Her voice joined the chorus to confirm before she and her wingpony split off from the formation.

Her eyes picked out a target and training took over. Her wings angled to bring her down into a shallow dive before shooting her upward hard. Her wingpony shot up higher than herself, taking a defensive position in the flight path as Dash angled herself downward, her nose pointing at her target. Bringing her wings close to her side, she dove towards her target with increasing speed.

The armor that the Equestrian Air Force equipped her with was a pain, and she made sure to voice it just often enough to make it clear. It restricted her movements, slowed her down and made her feel like she was carrying another pony in flight. But all that melted away as she dived towards her prey. Her wings snapping open at he last second to drag the blade attached to them though her target. She could literally feel that it was a sure shot.

As she rose out of the dive, she took the chance to see what she had killed. The way that the adrenalin slowed everything around her gave her an extra long look at it. Black, horribly disfigured and with what looked like bits of sharp metal inserted into almost random points of the body. But still, she could recognize the basic form of a hawk. Her mind for some reason decided to flash her back to when she was choosing her pet. Strutting back and forth across the line of prospective pets. I wonder how he's doing?

Her mind is brought back to reality when another dark form was brought down to her right, the familiar sight of her wingpony following behind it to return to formation. They both flew up, aiming to return to the center of the main force before flying back out to attack again. It was only thanks to blessed bolt of lightning that the two of them could spot the figure diving down at them.

The black monster's right fist was only barely blocked by Dash's partner's quick reflexes to bring in the hooves like a shield. It didn't stop the thing from launching the pegasus far from Rainbow with the force of the blow. Leaving her alone with the beast and it's diabolical looking spear.

Instinct and reflexes took over, her wings tucking close to her body as she spun in the air. The spear barely missing her as she twisted around it. As she completed her rotation, she raised her fore-hooves, the metal claws gleaming in the flashing lightning before she brought them both down into the chest of the beast. It was then that Dash could get a closer look at what she was about to bring down.

Even with the boils and the missing patches of skin and feathers, Dash could recognize the basic features. A Griffon. A rather angry looking male. She couldn't help but think of her former best friend, Gilda. I should write her a letter. The thought didn't slow her movements however. Using the embedded claws like hoof-holds, she pulled herself up and brought her right leg forward to crash it into the Griffon's face. She could feel it cave in under her assault before she pulled free of it, letting the lifeless body drop from the air.

The air space around her was starting to empty out as the swarm was beaten back giving Dash the luxury to look around and spy her wingpony. Down below her, sandwiched between the land and air battle, she spotted the pegasus trying to recover from the blow. Dash zips down and taps her partner's wing with her own to snap her out of it. “You ok there,” Dash asked, the concern coming though her voice as the mask on the helmet kept her face hidden. “You took quite a blow there.”

Her wingpony nodded before reaching up to her helmet to disconnect the face plate with the helmet and lift it up, letting her gold hair fall free. “Ya.. Was that a griffon?” A thought crosses the pony's mind and she looks around before looking back at Rainbow. “And.. did you drop it,” she asks in disbelief.

Dash smiled and chuckled, “Hey, I'm awesome. Of course I took it out!” She closed her wingpony's face plate playfully before zipping a short distance away. “Come on, Lightning. Lets meet up with the rest of the Flight and get back in the fight!”

The rest of the battle followed a similar pattern with the main force targeting the largest of the enemy fighter's before clearing out the stragglers. It was set to be a standard battle. Up until the most memorable part of the battle. When a Roc made an appearance.

To call Roc's massive is an understatement. Normally, one would only see them if you catch sight of their tiny form in the sky above them. They rarely leave the upper atmosphere to dive down on prey as large as full grown bull elephants. Some reports even have them lifting up entire whales to devour them high in the sky. Pictures of them have them in brilliant colors like browns and whites. But this beast was black as emptiness and horrible boils coated it's form as it stared at them with dead eyes.

To watch the clouds literally part under the beast's massive wing beats was a terrifying sight for the entire Pegasus force as they fought against the wind. The resulting knock back of the wind crashing into the ground lifted ponies off the ground and carried them off. The beast let out a horrifying cry before whipping it's long neck to start snapping at friend at foe alike. It was though luck and adrenaline filled panic that the majority of the attacked pegasi could avoid the snapping beast, more adapted to hunting large prey rather than little ponies.

A sharp crackle came though on Rainbow's radio set in her ear, “Pull Back to Point Delta! Get some distance away from that thing! Let it lash out at it's friends.” A double tap on the side of Dash's helmet sent an automatic confirmation back to Spitfire. In a quick moment both she and Lightning Dust joined the rest of the Flight around Spitfire and Soarin as they watched the beast thrash around.

“We don't have a lot of time,” Spitfire started, watching the beast though her helmet's vision enhancing goggles. “Boogies are already starting to pull away from the Roc. Soon it will take it's sight's on the ground force and they don't have the advantage of three dimensional flight.”

Soarin looked to the Captain, “Maybe having it drop isn't that bad? We cut it's wings and let it meet the ground the hard way!”

Spitfire shook her head, “Roc's have wings as thick as trees and practically as strong. To cut though those with just Flight Blades would take a crazy amount of... speed.” The last word came along ith a tone of realization as she looked to the pair of fastest fighters in the Flight.

The unspoken question in her eyes was meet with two nods. They were ready, they just needed the green light.

Spitfire floated from the main group a bit and pressed her hoof against the side of her helmet, activating her radio. “Coronal Warhawk. This is Captain Spitfire of-”

“Of the Wonderbolt Squadron. I know.” A voice of condemnation replied, a familiar one that Spitfire had gotten used to under the command of Warhawk. “If you don't mind, Spitfire, I am in the middle of a meeting with the Squad Leaders to try and figure out how to kill that beast. Have your Flight ready to retreat and guide in a war machine.”

Spitfire bit her teeth to keep a sharp retort from coming out. After taking a moment to breathe, she replied in a forced calm, “Sir, I believe two of my fliers will be enough-”

He cut her off again, “Am I to put my trust in a pair of stunt ponies over the firepower of a War Blimp?”

“You know that blimp will take far too long to reach us,” Spitfire lost her cool for a moment.  Taking another breath she went on, “Sir, by the time the blimp reaches us, the Roc will attack the ground forces. I know you have a distaste for us but I ask you this one time. Trust me!”

There is a prolonged silence on the radio. “You have one shot,” Warhawk's tone was reluctant and was only made worse at Spitfire's reply.

“Thank you, sir. Let us do our best to hold the Roc steady.”

The venom in the Coronal’s retort was palpable, “You'll have a lot of blood on your hooves if this goes wrong, Spitfire.”

She removed her hoof from the radio, letting it go dead as she softly whispered, “I know.” She looked back to her squad. They had waited patiently for Spitfire's orders, except for Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust. The Captain looked at the two of them. She couldn't see their faces but their eyes had a fire brighter than even Celestia's Sun, their bodies as tight as harp strings. Every part of their being set on a hair trigger.

“Go!”

In a flash the two of them shot past Spitfire, leaving her floating there as the air whipped around her. When it had settled, Spitfire looked back at her Wonderbolts. “Listen up! I have a hard task to set before you,” she floated closer to them so that she could be heard clearly. “Dash and Dust are going to clip that bird's wings. We have the task of keeping it in one place so they can do the job. That's right, I'm asking you to fly back to that monster. That is indeed a problem.” She paused before smiling behind her mask as she looked at them, “Unless you are a Wonderbolt.”

“Yeah!” They called out in response.

“Then keep up!” Spitfire shot past the group, heading straight for the Roc with her Wonderbolts close behind. They were joined soon by the rest of the Flight as a unified force, the air spinning around their bodies like a drill.

The Roc had a moment to see what was coming towards it before the combined force of more than one hundred pegasi crashed into it's body. It wasn't enough to drop the beast, however and they were soon brushed of with a sharp flap of it's wings. Warhawk was the first to recover, yelling out a sharp order, “Swarm the beast! Hold it in place!”

As a unified force the pegasi swarmed around the Roc, cutting it's thick hide and feathers with their wing blades and hoof claws. Warhawk flew in close to Spitfire, calling out, “You better be right about them!” Her reply was cut short as the Roc's beak snapped towards them, forcing them both to twist out of the way and fly along it's neck. Warhawk jammed his hoofclaws into the beast's flesh and dragged them along as he flew. His assault was cut short as he was stopped short, making himself flip over before he caught air again.

Spitfire rejoined him, calling out, “You getting old, Coronal? You lost control for a second there.”

“Not control, Spitfire.” Warhawk replied as he showed his armor encased hoof, now minus the three claws. “I lost my blades.” The two of them took a look around the battle surrounding the beast, seeing similar cases of weapons shattering against it's hide, if not wings completely dislocated.

A sensation of dread came over Spitfire as the weight of the situation started to build.

“Hurry up you two.”

“How far do we have to go!” Lightning Dust had to almost shout to get her voice though the radio. Although the helmet was designed to keep air penetration at a minimum at flight speed, they speed they were going were far above the norm.

Dash looked over her shoulder at Dust, “Why? You getting tired?” The snarky remark earned her a soft laugh from her Wingpony.

“Tired? Hardly...” The amusement drained from her voice as she went on, “But I'm worried. What if we can't get enough speed? Aren't you concerned about that?”

“Concerned? Me?” Dash laughed before smugly saying, “I'm Rainbow Dash. What do I have to e concerned about?”

Dust smiled behind her mask. “Roger.”

The pair were quiet for a while after that, focusing on reaching the target distance. When she was sure it was far enough, Dash slowed down to a dead stop and turned to face their target with Dust following suit. The magnification on the goggles was the only way she could see the large Roc at this distance as they floated at a high angle above it. “Do you remember the rescues I did before?” Dusk nodded, prompting Rainbow to continue, “I don't think about things like speed or distance. I don't think about whether or not I make it. The only thing I think about is reaching my target.” She looked to Dusk as she asked, “Can you do that?”

A smart salute was all the answer Rainbow needed and she started their attack run.

The returning flight was more of a dive than a straight path. They needed the extra speed to put the force behind their attack. Their wings pumped with all their might as the wind howled around them. All Dash could hear beyond them was the rapid beating of her heart, almost like it threatened to bust out of her chest. But she willed it steady and her wings faster. It was as they approached the Roc that she heard a third sound and it took a moment to realize what it was.

She was screaming. No. Not screaming, yelling. Or better yet...

Rainbow Dash roared with all her might a she turned to her side, letting her wings spread wide as she aimed for the joint right at the wing. The pegasi swarming around the Roc scattered at their approach a moment before Dash and Dust crashed into the Roc. At the moment of impact, Rainbow could have sworn that her wing was getting ripped off. But she pushed herself though until she sliced though.

The pair rolled though the air until they landed on the massive bird's back. Dash held on tight as she caught her breath, looking over her shoulder she saw that they failed. The wings remained attached to the beast. But now they hung limply without the needed connective tendons. Now it's head and legs thrashed as it attempted to stop itself from falling backwards.

With a click, realization hit her as she twisted back around to see 'above' them, the ground making a quick approach to them.

“MOVE!”

At once, they both got to their hooves took off on a sprint down the bird's body as the Earth made it's quick approach. Dash spread her wings, forcing them fully open despite the protest from her right wing, the same she used to cut. Time was running out, she could start to see details in the soldiers below. Tailfeathers came into view, seconds remaining. “FLY!”

Dash kicked off with her remaining strength and beat her wings as she twisted around the Roc's body, slipping free at the last moment with Dust close behind. They rose up but kept their eyes on the Roc, watching with amazement as it crushed legions of the enemy army under it's body and blowing down the rest of them under it's immense weight.

Dash smiled weakly and looked to Dust. “Hey.. We did it,” she said too tired to put much emotion in it. Her wingpony rose her hoof weakly in celebration before it dropped, her wings sputtering in attempt to keep her upright. Dash weakly floated closer as she tried to rouse her friend, “hey.. Don't fall asleep on.. me..” Dash let out a sigh as her body gave in to exhaustion and the adrenaline crash.

Dash's world was darkness as she floated though it, to tired to think. Too tired to move. She accepted her quiet respite in the darkness. “Damn mares... too heavy nowadays!” Dash's darkness was rudely disturbed and she grumbled in protest, trying to surrender to the darkness. “Wake the buck up, Airpony! No time for resting!”

Reluctantly, Dash opened her eyes as reality returned to her. The weight of her armor and body and the aching all over. Her wings laid limply at her side as she floated in the air. This clear contradiction made her shake her head, “Am I.. dead?”

“Not yet.” A gruff voice in her ear prompted her to look to her side, seeing Warhawk holding her up. Next to him, Spitfire held on to Lightning Dust in a similar condition. “Can you fight, Airpony?”

“Wha? But we already... Oh buck it all.” Dash's jaw dropped when she saw the situation she and her entire squadron were in. While they were focusing on the Roc, the rest of the force had surrounded them. They now stared down the pegasi with murder in their eyes. Dash looked around, seeing only tired pegasi with shattered weapons. Nothing that can survive the attack waiting for them. The tired pegasus looked back to her commanding officer, “Working on a plan?”

“I'm thinking,” Warhawk gruffly replied.

“That's nice. I'll try to go back to sleep in the meantime.”

“I wouldn't if I were you, Dash.” Rainbow Dash looked to Spitfire in confusion that only grew more so when she saw the mare's smile. “You'll miss the show.” She nodded her head forward, directing Dash's gaze towards the brunt of the enemy force. Amounst the dark figures, she saw it.

A tiny glowing orb, an ember among charcoal almost.

One of the creatures made the mistake of getting too close, causing the orb to flash and explode, coating the surrounding beasts in a brilliant flame.

Warhawk started laughing with a mix of relief and excitement. “Looks like those lazy Unicorns finally got set up!” Dash looked down to see what he was talking about. Below them, Unicorns were grouping together and casting their magic. One of them acting as a spotter while two more more feed their magic to one in the middle who launched those small orbs at high speeds towards the flyers.

One by one, brilliant explosions enveloped the enemy and coated them in flames and soon the skies were clear except for the Pegasi, their voices joining the cheer of victory with the soldiers below. Dash looked to Warhawk with a weak smile. “Permission to sleep, sir?”

“Granted!” He had to catch himself however as Dash went limp again and took the old soldier off balance. Dash rested in the arms of her comrades until they returned to the carrier blimp. She was still barely awaken for the medical exam. A month of bedrest for both her and Dust, to let their wings heal from the strain of their attack.

Their rest would be needed as the war was nearing it's climax.