Chaos

    Chandler fumbled for words. Even if he could find something to say, the moment was cut off by a second volley exploding directly above them.

POWWWW!

    This time, the runic blast sent the two ships reeling. Breathless survivors gasped and dove out of way before the rusted hulls of both ships could slice their bodies to ribbons. All was confusion and chaos as the waterlogged armada struggled to deal with the surprise artillery barrage.

    "Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh—!" The remainder of Chandler's airborne squadron continued their ascent—only to feel a blinding sensation in their peripheral vision.

    The air was sucked out of their lungs, and their nerves were wracked by even more shockwaves. In a breathless stupor, the soldiers glanced straight down in mid-flight.

    They spotted plumes of orange flame erupting on all sides of the Defense Minister's armada. Concussive blasts sent jets of salt water rocketing skyward—until it nearly nipped at their talons and fetlocks.

    The group gawked one second too long. And as their charge carried blindly into the tenth second, they heard an echoing salvo of shouts directly above. Glancing towards the heavens, they spotted several velvety figures clearing the dissipating cloudtops... just as two burning flares flew in sharply from the east—exploding in blinding glory.

Pow!

P-Pow!

Kapow!

    A few of the guardians shrieked, clutching their helmets in momentary blindness. Others were rendered inert as the intense concussions overwhelmed their figures. The rest summoned strength and adrenaline from deep within their armored bodies and continued with their murderous charge.

    "Kill the rogue!"

    "Gut the demons of Blight!"

    "For Verlaxion!!!""

    "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh they're angry," Fluttershy whimpered, shivering as she phased through Rainbow's body—almost as if to hide.

    "They're coming in fast!" Ariel hollered as she and the rest of the group levitated directly above the violent charge. "Bard's runes didn't knock 'em all out!"

    "We'd be stupid to expect them to." Rainbow Dash gnashed her teeth, waving a hoof high for the rest of the flock to see. "Okay, dudes! This is it! Time to get dirty!"

Schiiiing! Wildcard unsheathed both nightsticks as his goggles reflected dozens of angry faces.

"S'lyppa w'lyssa yln H'luun!!!" Enix shrieked, making the very stars above them shake with her penetrating voice. "Sy'lymma w'lymm wyssl nymym thrym!!!

    "Bruise and incompacitate! Remember that!" Rainbow Dash wheezed, holding her place as the air grew heated with the incoming wings. "Beat 'em up! Not slice 'em up!"

    "Try telling them that!" Ariel's voice cracked. The enemy was flying in fast.

    Rainbow nevertheless growled, "Let's be victors today! Not killers!" She threw a fetlock downward at the incoming charge. "For Harmony! For Bleak's Plummet! For Luna!"

    "Vylm H'luun!" Enix echoed, soaring forward with dual scimitars unsheathed.

"Vylm Hluun!!!" the rest of the nightblooded flock joined her charge.

Swiiissssssh! Wildcard stealthily barreled his way towards the front of the charge.

    "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!" Ariel shouted as she and Rainbow rushed in down the middle.

    "Whoah nelly—!" Applejack grimaced, clutching her hat.

    "I-I can't watch!" Fluttershy covered her eyes. She murmured something else, but it was drowned out by the angry shouts of the Central Guard rushing up to meet the Heraldites, face to face and beak to muzzle.

    Golden spears and polearms stabbed the upper troposphere.

    Wildcard made first contact, deflecting several blades with his nightsticks and giving room for Enix and her warriors to rush in and tackle the initial wave of Frostknifers. Soldiers of Chandler's armada tackled sarosians while Rainbow Dash and Ariel collided with them with a flanking swerve. Soon, the air was a cacophonous sea of metallic percussion, lit up by runic explosions as the Stardust continually pelted the lower half of the enemy charge with lunar flak. Before long, the violent, angry screams of several dozen figures blended with the thunder at the end of the world, sending shockwaves back down towards the rippling waters below.

    The sonic reveberations eventually reached the Emeraldinian platforms in dull thuds.

    Logan stopped his anxious pacing. Ears twitching, the large stallion turned on his rear fetlock, squinting towards the source of the thunder-piercing noise.

    Remna stood beside the swaying chalices. She peered in a draconian squint towards the line of rocks to the west. All she could make out was yellow splashes of runic light high above the dissolving stormclouds.

    "I can scarcely tell," she grumbled. "Have they or have they not engaged the enemy?"

    "Uhm..." Flynn took a moment to gaze west. His mechanical eye whirred, the lense circling in and out as he took a survey of the situation as well as he could manage. "... ... ...affirmative." He exhaled with a shudder, managing a nervous smile. "Looks like Bard's set out to take on the armada. That's the Stardust's arsenal going off for sure." He cooed, "I'm so proud of you, baby."

    "Easy, baldy," Logan grumbled.

    "Mrmmffff..." Remna gazed skyward. "And what of the Austraeoh's flock?"

    "That rremains to be seen!" Kepler hollered from where he perched beside the gondola's golden supports. Water-slick chains of alicorn metal continously threaded through the rigging, glinting with lightning from the thunderous beyond. "Until we get anotherr signal frrom them, we can only wait and hope!"

    Remna hollered back, "Any sign of the Gondola?"

    "Negatorry!" The wyvern shook his rain-soaked head. "That is also the Rrainbow One's position of knowing rright now! Not ourrs!"

    Remna exhaled. Turning her back to the clattering vials, she faced west once again... staring at the stormclouds... still as a statue.

    "They... they've made contact!" Raptr wheezed, peering straight up from where he perched on the lower cloudbeds. He spun and threw his fellow wingmates a nervous glance. "Chandler's forces and Rainbow! Surely they've made contact by now!"

    Starstorm whistled shrilly. Following her gesture, the Talon and their rescued companions shimmied in opposite directions—just in time to avoid a hailstorm of loose weapons. Several battered swords and bent spears plunged through the cloudbeds beneath them.

    "That answer your question, rookie?" Windburst droned.

    Starstorm looked at their Commander. "Rainbow's allies have an impressive magical arsenal," she said. "No doubt they've just now whittled down the Central Guard to a tolerable number for hoof-to-hoof combat."

    "Yes." Keris nodded. "But not for long." He gestured at the two ships below that were still recovering from the runic assault. "If I know Chandler, he'll send the rest of the squadron back up as soon as they've gathered their bearings. Whatever Rainbow possesses, her forces will inevitably be overwhelmed again."

    Raptr shuddered. "Then it's just a matter of time." He gasped, jumping aside as a stray helmet fell past him from above.

    "Brothers and sisters of the Talon," Keris spoke. "We've done all that we can from a distance. The time has come for us to get involved intimately."

    "You truly think we should engage?" Starstorm asked. "Maybe we don't need to. Maybe... just maybe... at this rate Rainbow Dash and her allies will hold their own."

    Keris glared at her thoughtfully. "Either we intercept her or Seraphimus does."

    Starstorm clenched her beak.

    "Form up, Talon!" Keris perched on the edge of the cloud, tightening his wing muscles. "Our task is to stave off complete bloodshed! Pacify our fellow soldiers. Fight back Rainbow's allies. Do whatever you need to do to keep this fight from staining the ocean forever!"

    "Aye, Commander!" Starstorm nodded.

    Windburst cocked his crossbow. "Yes, sir."

    "As you say," Raptr added, getting into position.

    "But most important of all..." Keris glared skyward at the distant clashing and sparking of weapons. "...find Rainbow Dash. Intercept her. We must understand what the actual endgame is here!"

    Just before the Talon could take off—

    "C-Commander?" It was one of the soldiers that had been saved from free-fall.

    Keris looked over his shoulder.

    Several of the rescued guards had stumbled back to their hooves and talons. Standing crookedly atop the cloud, a pegasus in the center of the battered group cast Keris a weary look. "What's all of this that we're hearing?"

    Another soldier stammered, "You... are going to kill the Rainbow Rogue, yes?"

    "You've suffered the Blight before," a third wheezed. "Just whose side are you on?"

    "Yeah... what's going on here?"

    Keris replied calmly, "What's going on here?" His feathery brow furrowed. "I am going to do what is best for the harmony and survival of our great nation: Rohbredden. And I suggest you do the same."

    The Frostknifers stared blankly at him.

    So he added in a firm, authoritarian tone: "Stay here. Do not engage the enemy until the command is given to retreat back to Frostknife."

    "Re... r-retreat?" one soldier wheezed.

    "If you value your lives... and the future of your children... and their children... you will follow my command," Keris said. "If you wish to seal your fate here in the darkness of the world's end, then do whatever else. You have my word." He whistled at the others and—

FWOOOOSH!

    —the Right Talon of Verlaxion took wing as one, piercing through the misty heavens above.

    The rest of the guardians stood alone on the cloudbeds, staring at one another. They trembled visibly—and with greater intensity as the unspoken seconds rattled on. Paralyzed by confusion and uncertainty, they watched east and west as more volleys rippled brightly through the air.

Pow!

POWWW!

    More concussive blasts thundered immediately around Chandler's armada from the impacting runic artillery. The rusted decks were doused with relentless waves of ocean water—even as the last of the fallen soldiers had been hoisted on board. Crew ponies and survivors alike scrambled for cover from the shattered ocean waves.

    A bodyguard clung to the side of Chandler's chariot as the vessel they were on rocked violently in the tempestuous waters. "Defense minister!" the griffon shouted, trying to steady both himself and the chariot. "There's no sign of them letting up!"

    "Where are they?!" Chandler snarled, thoroughly doused. He drained water out of his stupidly-large helmet and sneered at his subordinate. "How could they have such a clear shot of our ships?!"

    "All we c-can tell is that the magical blasts are coming from the east, sir!" The bodyguard sputtered as another splash of heated water drenched him and the Defense Minister. "But... to have struck so close to target this many times, they must have an unobstructed view!"

    "Meaning they've cleared the west end of the line of shoals before us?!"

    "Affirmative!"

P-POW! A particularly close charge exploded off the port-side, making Chandler's ship tilt by over thirty-degrees. His chariot reeled—as did he—and at the end of the jostling motion he roared to his fellow crew members. "We can't just sit here in these waters, remaining useless!" He pointed at the aerial fight high up above. "The Rainbow Rogue is up there somewhere! I just know it!" He pointed at the gasping, sputtering survivors. "Get those soldiers to rejoin formation and flank the enemy above!"

    "Defense Minister—!"

    "They're Rohbredden's top elite! And right now, they're needed in the skies! No excuses!" He spun about in his chariot and peered east. "Meanwhile, both of our ships will take out the source of these artillery charges—"

    "Minister, they can't take to the skies!" the subordinate shouted.

    "Rrrrrgh—and why not?!"

POWWW!

    As the ship reeled again, the soldier pointed at the dissipating plume of flame to their starboard. "That's why! So long as we're being pelted like this, no pony or griffon will get airborne!"

    "But..." Chandler fumbled for words. "...but we n-need to eliminate that artillery!"

    "I know, sir!"

    "Then... then..." Chandler gasped for breath as more ocean water pelted the ship. "This is what we'll do!" He pointed at the stumbling soldiers on the water-logged deck. "Take half of the crew! Assemble them into a strike team! Have them take wing—"

    "Minister—"

    "And maintain a low altitude!" Chandler sneered. "By my command, have them flock west and maintain position. Meanwhile, we'll cruise east and draw the enemy artillery fire! Once we get close enough to the enemy to engage, we'll launch the second half of our ship's compliment to flank them by air while our ships make the forward assault!"

    "But sir!" the griffon stammered. "The first half that you send out over the waters..." His hawkeyes narrowed. "What if the artillery sends them plummeting into the drink? We could lose over a dozen guardians to—"

    "I don't care who lives or who dies!" Brye Chandler hollered, the veins showing in his neck. "If we lose the Rainbow Rogue, we lose everything!"

    The subordinate gawked at him.

    Growling, Chandler yanked him up by a few of his down feathers and snarled into his beak: "Send the first half of the squadron out now! Tell them to hold position while we charge the enemy to our east! On the double!"

    "Yes... y-yes, Minister!" The griffon turned around—stumbling as the ship was rocked once more—and approached the rest of the beleagured crew. "Listen! Defense Minister's orders! We form two groups! One will take wing and maintain position west of here! The rest will join the ship as we attract the enemy artillery fire! Once the heat has been taken from this patch of the ocean, the first group will reinforce our forces up above!"

    There was an awkward silence between the claps of thunder—both natural and artificial—as the dumbfounded troops digested the orders given to them.

    "You have been commanded by Verlaxion's chosen!" the griffon sneered. "And you shall obey! We shall obey!"

    At last, the hesitance dissolved, and several waterlogged guardians bowed low.

    "Yes, sir!"

    "Aye, sir!"

    "As the Minister commands!"

    "No time to waste!" Chandler hollered back as he gestured commands at the crewponies surrounding him. "Convey the appropriate signals to our sister ship!" He thew his hoof towards the blackened horizon. "We head east! We face our enemy until there is none left to face at all!"

    "All engines—!"

    "Full speed ahead!"

    "Eyes on the enemy! Find the source of that Blighted magic!"

    Lightning flickered.

    Waves formed.

    Steam engines roared with renewed vigor as the final stretch of ocean was pierced...

    "Bard!" one of the two sarosians stammered. The deck of the Stardust was strewn over with spent runes, and the air was thick with lunar dust. "The two vessels! They are approaching!"

    "Eeyup..." Bard had stopped steering so he could peer through a spyglass. He caught the battered hulls of the twin ships approaching swiftly through stormy waters. "Reckon we dun pissed them off."

    "Do you think the land-dwellers have spotted us?"

    "Hard to say..." Bard shuddered, tilting his spyglass up, up, up. "Not sure it rightly matters." At last, he spotted the hazy image of sarosians and griffons and pegasi fighting hoof-to-hoof in the air. He whistled hard. "Hells bells... now that's a terrible kerfluffle to be missin'."

    "We can give them cover," one sarosian suggested, sweating in the twilight. Thunder rolled overhead as his fangs nervously flashed. "I suggest we fire a volley up high! It could blind the enemy!"

    "Hell no!" Bard frowned. "And wipe out dozens of our own kind?" He gravely shook his head. "Remember what we planned. We wait for a signal from Rainbow and company. If they need us shootin' up the sky 'round them, then and only then do we follow suit."

    "Then what do we do in the meantime?" one sarosian asked.

    Bard exhaled heavily. He squinted past the distant armada. For a moment he saw—or thought he saw—the pale glint of light coming from Bleak's Plummet. "Everythang's fine, so long as they're gettin' a clear path to skedaddle, right, Amber?"

    "Mr. Bard?"

    He cleared his throat. "We hammer 'em, of course!" he exclaimed. "We hammer them rusted pieces of junk with all we've got!" He re-gripped the rudder wheel as he steered the Stardust around for a broad side. "Rainbow's group has their job, and so do we! Whatever we do... them vessels must not reach the Gondola before the Austraeoh! Got it?"

    "Ywm!"

    "Absolutely."

    "Good!" Bard gestured. "Now carry on with them fireworks, buckaroos!" He didn't find the time to smirk after saying that. Lifting his gaze, he stared forlornly at a distant clash of sparks—almost easily mistaken for the twinkle of stars. "Although... nothin's more distractin' than a griffon bastard with woodsheddin' on his mind." His brow furrowed. "Come on, Dubya-Cee. Dun be muddyin' the Desperadoes' name with anythang stupid now, y'hear?

Cl-Cl-Cl-Cl-Clang! Wildcard's nightsticks ricocheted off five helmets and breastplates in a row.

    "Aaaaugh!" Two Frostknifers stumbled back. A third was tackled by an enraged sarosian. The last two angrily spun towards Wildcard and stabbed with their spears.

    "...!" Wildcard juked to the side, twirled, and hooked the length of one spear under his right arm. He backflipped, slamming the full length of his leg into his grip of the weapon.

    "Ooof—!" the soldier was jerked forward, losing his hold of the spear.

    Wildcard finished his backflip, flew forward, spung of the soldiers' backside, and slammed the blunt-end of the spear against the skull of the soldier's partner. CRACK!

    "Aaaaugh!" Both guardians fell, plunging past the combating bodies of sarosians and Rohbreddenites. The air was filled with screams, curses, and the clattering of metal.

    Still—somehow—Wildcard heard Rainbow Dash's shouting voice through the thick of mid-air melee.

    "...?!" He twirled about, goggles glinting from lofty flashes of lightning.

    Ariel was gripping a griffon from behind. Rainbow punched the guardian in the stomach, headbutted him, then joined Ariel in tossing the figure into a row of charging pegasi. As the bodies collided, Rainbow spun to face Wildcard breathlessly from afar. "Crossbows!" she shouted, pointing nebulously in a lofty direction. "Northwest! Up high! Rarity's sensed the barbed metal—"

    Wildcard was already twirling about, scanning the heavens. It took only two and a half seconds to find the tell-tale glint of serrated arrowheads.

    Above the thick of the battle, five members of the Central Guard has found a lonesome cloud. They perched atop of it, forming a phalanx. They notched their crossbows at the same time, eyeing Rainbow and the crowd below.

    "Crossbows!" Enix's voice could be heard above a bevy of screams.

    Wildcard flapped his wings mightily, soaring up towards the line of crossbow wielding soldiers. Just then—thwwpp!—he felt his whole body yanked violently backwards by his tail. A pegasus in gold armor gripped him from behind with a pair of thick-muscled forelimbs.

    "Grkkk..." The bruised and scarred Frostknifer hissed, brandishing a dagger to the nape of Wildcard's neck. "I'll have mercy, traitor... and drain the Blight from your corpse through one hole—!"

    With a calm breath, Wildcard snatched a whalebone spear from a passing sarosian and blindly shoved it backwards, jamming it down the pegasus' throat.

    "Grkkkkkk!" the guardian gargled blood, instantly releasing Wildcard's body.

    The Desperado sprung off him, sailing towards his destination above.

    But it was too late. The soldiers were already taking aim.

    "Incoming—!" Ariel shouted.

    Beak clenched, Wildcard stretched his metal talon straight out.

Thw-Thw-Thw-Thw-Thwifffft! A line of crossbolts sliced into the meat of battle.

Vrmmmmmmm! Sparks flew from Wildcard's magnetized joints. Sweating hard, he manipulated the arrows from a dozen meters away... steering them at a barely noticeable angle. Within half a second, their arc bent upwards... slicing harmlessly over the backsides of multiple sarosians and even nipping a few feathers and locks of mane-hair off. By the time they reached Rainbow and Ariel—

Sw-Sw-Swissssh!

    —the projectiles had pivoted at just the right angle to narrowly thread through the thin space afforded between both mares' fuzzy bellies. Ariel and Rainbow watched breathless as the arrows shot around, doubled-back, and returned to the cloud of crossbow-wielding miscreants from which they came.

    "Get down!"

    "Move—!"

    One soldier was too slow, and an arrow stuck deep into his rear fetlock. Schlunnk! "Aaaaugh!"

    The others deflected with shields and breastplates. Cl-Cl-Clank! Stunned by what had just happened, they lowered their guard with awkward slowness.

    This was precisely when the mute Desperado chose to pounce them. CLAAAANG! His right nightstick slammed so hard onto a griffon's helmet that it split in two. As the others gasped, Wildcard knocked them aside with his shoulder, combined both of his sticks into a single staff, and proceeded to whollop, bludgeon, and concuss the remaining forces atop the lofty cloud. With pained grunts, the assaulted guardians fell off the cloud...

    ...and plummeted past Keris and the rest of the Talon as they flew their way up into the fight.

    "Whoah!" Raptr gazed at one flailing pegasus with a crossbolt through his leg. "These guys aren't dead but I bet they sure wish they were!"

    "Rainbow's allies seemed well-trained!" Windburst managed.

    Blinking, Keris watched a pair of metal objects falling past them. It was two halves of a single helmet. "... ... ...Jordan's here," he said.

    Starstorm flung him a surprised look. "He is?"

    "Don't sound so alarmed." Keris looked up as the fight grew louder and more violent in intensity. "It's the best news we've had in minutes."

    "Should we look for him?" Starstorm asked.

    "Odds are he'll find us first." Keris shook his head. "No. Look for Rainbow Dash. It remains our prime priority."

    "And pacifying this fight...?" Raptr's beak clattered.

    Keris' eyes narrowed. "Forever and always."

    "Well..." Windburst gazed around with his expert hawkeyes. "I do love me a challenge." Just then, his headcrest lifted as he spotted something. "Whoops!" He aimed his crossbolt at a pair of bloodstained combatants. Pffft! The bolt flew true, ricocheted off a guardian's helmet, and knocked the whalebone axe out of the sarosian's grip. Both soldiers were forced apart with a single shot, and their bodies went sailing off into the stormy malaise. "Well then!" Windburst smirked as he loaded another bolt. "Two down... only nine dozen more to go."

    "Keep focused!" Keris said firmly. "And stay together—" Before he could finish that statement, two sarosians pounced on him—shrieking loudly.

    "Whoah damn!" Raptr reacted.

    "Rrrgh!" Starstorm reached in, grabbed a bat pony from behind, and flung him sideways so that Raptr could give him a thick-knuckled punch. A loud shriek pierced the air as Starstorm tossed the midnighter towards the clouds below. "Damn loud, aren't they?"

    "Rrrrngh..." Keris wrestled with the sarosian that had pounced him, fighting the bladed whalebone away. "Less talking and more saving!" With a grunt, he bloodily pecked the sarosian's shoulder and shoved him off. Schiiing! Talons barred, he sliced the nightblooded warrior's weapon in two and blocked another charge. "That's it! Bring your righteous fury to us, Seventh Tribe!"

    "Stormy waters against impervious stone!" Starstorm added, warding off several more.

    "Goddess..." Windburst notched another crossbolt and fired it into the onslaught. "If we survive this shit, we're gonna have to make a damn Talon rule book about catch phrases!"

    "Yeah!" Raptr wheezed, fending off two attackers at once. "What he said!"

    The prow of Chandler's ship shredded its way through a swell of salt water... only for the vessel and its sister to be mercilessly pelted by charge after charge of thunderous runic blasts.

    The Defense Minister flinched barely this time, standing firm in his chariot seat. He and his fellow crewmates braced themselves as they cruised east along their turbulent path. They rode the crest of a rippling wave, and the fortuitous height gave them a spacious view of the jutting rock structures looming along the final horizon.

    Between the artillery volleys, the guardians of Frostknife spotted a moving object: the source of bright, twinkling discharges.

    "There!" a griffon positioned at the bow of Chandler's ship shouted, pointing a rain-soaked claw. He hollered into the thunderous air. "Towards our three o'clock! Moving south rapidly!"

    "Is it a ship?" Chandler asked.

    "Aye, Minister! A skooner! And a small one at that!"

    There was another pulse of light in the distance. A quarter of a minute later, two runic flares flew towards the two ships and exploded between them, tossing water and brine.

    "It's them alright!" Chandler's teeth gnashed as he gripped the edges of his chariot. "Signal the other ship to take point!" He shouted against the thunder. "Full speed ahead! We must overtake them!"

    "They... uh..." The griffon at the bow squinted.

    "What is it now?!"

    The subordinate looked back at the Defense Minister. "They're headed through the narrows, sir! Undoubtedly they're attempting to use the shoals for cover!"

    Chandler panted and panted. Wiping salt water from his brow, he stared up at the distant fight above and behind them... then back at the water beyond the ship's bow. "Is there enough room for our ships to make it through?"

    "Well, yes, sir... but odds are they've scouted this location already! They know the territory!"

    "And we know our pledge to our beloved Goddess!" Chandler spat. "If we don't take out the source of that damnable artillery, then our allies in the air will never have the chance to bring down the Rainbow Rogue!"

    "Aye, sir!"

    "We proceed!" Chandler gestured emphatically as he gazed at the sister ship gliding past their starboard. "Single file! Thread the needle!" His teeth showed as he glared into the glinting mists. "We'll rip their tinfoil raft into ribbons!"

    "Ywm! They're pursuing us!" One sarosian lowered his spyglass and spun about to face Bard. "Both ships! Single-file!"

    "Hell..." Bard spun the rudder-wheel in a blur as he brought the Stardust completely about, facing directly east. "I dunno what's stupider anymore... this plan or them!"

    "The latter, apparently—"

    "Shhh!" Bard steadied the wheel, rocking the ship into a straight glide as he aimed it into the heart of the rock formations. "Save the snappy one-liners to me!" He gestured with a free hoof. "In the meanwhile, use yer breaths for firin' them runes!"

    One sarosian cocked another bleakweed cannon while the other faced the Desperado. "Should we aim for our pursuers?"

    "Nuh-uh!" Bard shook his head. The wet wind blew his ponytail in a brown blur. "They need to think they're headed towards a victory!" His eyes reflected a pair of wooden shipwrecks flanking a narrow strait of choppy water. "Keep firin' at what really ruffles their feathers!" He swung his hoof at the booming twilight. "Give them sky varmints a migraine!"

    "Ywm!" The other sarosian grabbed a cannon and began priming it.

    Bard exhaled as he guided the Stardust through the shipwrecks. "In a moment... we ain't the only ones who're gonna be split up."

    The nightblooded ponies aimed west, tilted their cannons up, and shouted: "M'wynhrm!"

"M'wynhrm!!!"

P-POW!

KAPOW!

    Runic explosions pelted the fringes of the midair melee. As Frostknifers reeled, Ariel barreled through the bunch, bucking and kicking multiple skulls along the way.

    "Nrnnngh!"

Whack!

    "Httt!"

Th-Thwap!

    She nimbly dodged a thrown spear, curved around a lunging griffon, then ended with an uppercut against a charging griffon.

    "Raaaaugh!"

Thokk!

    The griffon—however—recovered from the monumental blow. Beak bleeding, the muscular combatant suddenly loomed above Ariel, glaring her down as the battle clashed all around them. "I am the might of Rohbredden, blighted one. You cannot stop me—"

    Just then—from behind—a sky-blue hoof slammed up right between the griffon's rear legs. The soldier's hawkeyes crossed. With a pitiful whimper, his meaty figure plunged through the clouds, revealing Rainbow Dash behind him, dusting off her fetlocks.

    "Go home!" she shouted after the plummeting body. "And have fun settling 'Falsetto Prefecture!'"

    Ariel exhaled through a shudder. "Must you always one-up me?"

    "You love it, girl."

    "Yeah, well..." Ariel hovered back-to-back with her as the two eyed the chaotic battle around them. "There's a time and a place."

    "You friggin' kidding me?" Rainbow Dash reached out and punched a random pegasus. She dodged a swinging blade and kicked a Frostknifer in the chest. "Grnngh... take it from an adventure veteran!" She headbutted a griffon and shoved his body into another passing soldier. "It's only times like this when you actually get to enjoy yourself!"

    "Yeah?!" Ariel hissed through her teeth as she elbowed one guard and parried the swinging talon of a griffon. "And what about when things are—grggghhh—peaceful?!"

Whack! Rainbow punched another soldier in the face and wheezed. "That's when all you get to do is think..." Her ears drooped. "...and regret."

    "Well then!" Ariel caught a falling spear, twirled it, and deflected two more attacks from the flank. Cl-Clank! Klak! "Who's for an endless fight scene, huh?"

    "Haaaaaugh!" Rainbow visciously vaulted over Ariel's figure and slammed the two attackers hard in their skulls, knocking them into the dissipating clouds below. As lightning and flares exploded, she panted and glanced over her shoulder at Ariel. "...not with an elevator to the Dark Side waiting for us."

    Ariel gulped, nodding into the sudden break in combat. "How's that looking, by the way?"

    "Good question!" Rainbow twirled about, her ruby eyes refocusing on the misty air around her. "Girls?"

    Twilight Sparkle hovered into view. "It's coming, Rainbow Dash! But..."

    "It's not here yet!" Pinkie Pie shook her head vigorously. "Not by a long shot—" An angry hoof phased through her fuchsia face.

    "Grkkk!" Rainbow raised both fetlocks, blocking the random soldier's attack at the last second. Ariel soared around her back and yanked the soldier's helmet completely around, blinding him. Rainbow punished him with a heavy kick into the skull—sending him seaward. "Bard?!" she managed between heaving breaths. "The Stardust?!"

    "Heading east through the shoals, darling!" Rarity stammered, jittery. "They're not alone!"

    Rainbow gulped, gazing at the frenzied bodies battling all around her and Ariel. "Chandler?"

    "Pursuing rapidly!" Rarity exclaimed. "They're approaching the runic trap that our bat pony friends have set!"

    "Well, alright!" Applejack grinned wide, tipping her hat. "Reckon we can kiss his convoy good bye—"

    "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiie!" Fluttershy suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, gripping her skull hard.

    "...!!!" Rainbow Dash spun around, eyes wide.

    "Fluttershy?!" Twilight gasped.

    "Mmmmmmm—!" the ghostly mare plunged. Pinkie Pie and Rarity swiftly steadied her, their faces awash in concern. "Oh no..." Fluttershy whimpered. "Oh no no no no no no..."

    "Fluttershy, what's the matter?" Twilight asked.

    Rainbow was too busy gawking at her friends to notice an enraged pegasus with a spear charging at her from clear across the clouds.

    "Rainbow, watch your six!" Ariel shouted, wrestling with a griffon. When Rainbow didn't flinch, the Heraldite spat: "Rainbow!" Still, no response. Snarling, Ariel shoved off the griffon, cartwheeled over Rainbow's figure, and came down in time to drop-kick the charging pegasus. "Hrnnngh!" Whack! The enemy's body went plummeting.

    Rainbow snapped out of it. She twirled about to face the griffon that Ariel had been tackling—only to see Wildcard slamming into him from behind. After the Desperado's save, Rainbow and Ariel were alone again. Panting, Rainbow faced her ghostly companions with a worried expression. "Fluttershy... talk to us!"

    "What's the matter?" Ariel sputtered.

    Rainbow gulped. "Are we losing midnighters?"

    Fluttershy's eyes peeked out through a curtain of pink hair. "A wave of d-death..." Shrunken pupils. Tears brimming. "...coming right this way."

    Rainbow blinked. She paled...

"W'ynlppa yln N'ymymme!!!" a sarosian shouted, clanging a pair of whalebone bludgeons together after fending off a few unlucky Frostknifers. Hovering just below the main battle, she ushered two other nightblood warriors closer as they regrouped to form a flanking formation. "L'ywynmya syllpa my'wysll syln H'Luun!"

    The accompanying warriors echoed as one:

    "Sylymym H'Luun!"

"Sylymym H'Luun!!!"

    Aiming her blades skyward, the head sarosian lead the charge. The three velvety figures ascended rapidly... just as a flicker of lightning outlined a serrated shadow approaching them from the west.

    The head sarosian looked to her left. The thunderclouds shifted; a silver shape came rapidly into focus. Then the sarosian saw nothing, for her eyes had been removed.

SCHIIINK! A pair of talons dug halfway into her skull, twisted, and snapped her neck at a grotesque angle.

    The other two warriors scarcely had a chance to react. Whalebone blades swung in the air...

    ...and reflected off a pair of cold charcoal eyes. With the grace of melting ice, Seraphimus rolled over the corpse in her grasp and flung the body's full weight into the two wingmates.

    One dodged swiftly, flying above the bloody fray with a twirl of his velvety figure. He looked down in a voiceless stupor.

    The other was not so lucky. He fumbled backwards in midair, suddenly encumbered with the weight of his fallen comrade. Snarling with undeniable fury, he stabbed his blade at Seraphimus' feathery skull.

    Seraphimus easily deflected the blade so that—instead—it sliced the jugular of the still-twitching corpse pressed between them. Blood spouted in a stream, dousing the sarosian's face and blinding him. Seraphimus breathlessly took advantage of the moment by kicking the bleeding body away and then descending upon the second warrior like a ravenous harpy. She dug her rear talons deep into his chest, piercing both his lungs simultaneously. The sarosian's body twitched, skewered by her merciless attack.

    The third shrieked loudly, unsheathing a dagger and sailing down to avenge his fallen comrades.

    Still with claws embedded in the second's chest, Seraphimus glared straight up. A blood-drenched glare flickered between them, and then—with a sickening pop sound—she ripped herself free of the second midnighter and flew straight up to meet the third's charge. She slammed into him—elbow first—uppercutting the confused warrior's chin. Her other talon caught his dagger just as he dropped it. One twirl, and the blade ended up hilt-deep in his neck—disabling him but leaving his nervous system electrified enough to feel the pain of what came next.

    Carried by the momentum of her upwards glide, Seraphimus perched on the square of the sarosian's backside, reached out to her sides, grabbed two separate handfuls of leather and—riiiiiip—rendered the warrior completely wingless. His mangled torso plunged towards the waters below, leaving a misty cloud of blood in the thunderous air, serenaded by a final scream.

    At last, Seraphimus breathed. Her eyes traced the heavens and—out of all the chaos and confusion—she singled out a single strand of prismatic color. Exhaling... fuming... she dropped the dismembered wings and rocketed up towards the heart of the fray.

    "Rrrrgh!" Keris pummeled a sarosian in the face and tossed the body onto a nearby cloud bed where two Frostknifers lay, bruised and barely conscious. Heaving, the Commander spun about to face another pair of combatants.

    But before he could even attempt to break up the fight—

FWOOOOSH!

    —a silver streak soared up behind him.

    "... ... ..." Keris' headcrest drooped. "...oh Goddess."

    Beak clattering, he spun about and faced straight up through the heart of the battle. At last, he saw Rainbow Dash...

    ...and the body that was hurtling straight for Rainbow Dash.

    "Commander...?" Starstorm asked from somewhere beyond the immediate battle.

    "Talon!" Keris hollered, flapping his wings desperately as he ascended. "Form up—!"

    "She's coming, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy wept. Screamed. She clutched at her skull as Pinkie and Rarity struggled to steady her. "She's coming straight for us—!"

    "We have to retreat!" Twilight Sparkle shouted. "Fall back! This battle's gone on long enough!"

    "Reinforcements will arrive at any moment!" Rarity insisted.

    "Rainbow...?" Ariel nervously stammered, hovering closer.

    "I'm thinking... I'm thinking..." Rainbow fidgeted in midair as the glinting silver shape grew closer.

    "What's to think?!" Applejack hollered.

    "AJ—"

    "Dag nabbit!" Frowing, Applejack pointed downward. "The moment she gets here, there's only one dang thang that'll stop her from endin' you! From endin' everythang!"

    Rainbow chewed on her bottom lip.

    A copper smell lit the air...

    ...and a mutilated set of nostrils tasted it.

    Enix spun around, eyeslits peering through the heat of battle.

    "Rrnnngh!" another nightblood warrior finished punching a pegasus hard in the skull. Sensing her superior's alertness, she spun about. Her own nostrils flared. "W'ynlppa yln N'ymym... that scent in the air..."

    "Fresh as foaling," Enix purred. "Cold as coral."

    "Blood..." The hair on the back of the other warrior's neck bristled. "Blood of our brothers and sisters!" Schiiing! Unsheathing a scimitar, she lunged forward—

    "No!" Enix held her back with a hoof outstretched. Together, the two peered down at the figure in question.

    Like a banshee, the griffon in question ripped and tore her way through the fight. Sarosians scattered left and right, several clutching bleeding limbs and mangled wings.

    "What... in H'Luun's name... is that...?" the subordinate stammered.

    Enix stared. Pierced fangs shone in the twilight. "A challenge." Schhh-iiiiii-iing! Two whalebone axes kissed the air. "Protect the W'ynlppa yln H'luun!"

    "Ywm, W'ynlppa yln N'ymym."

    "Rrrrrrrrrrrrr—" With a surly growl, Enix spiraled violently through the fight.

    "Rainbow!" Ariel squeaked, glancing aside with a feverish expression. "Call it!"

    Rainbow's jaw clenched hard. Her blood boiled with each heart-pounding second that the figure approached.

    "Rainbow—!" Twilight sputtered.

    "I need..." Rainbow grimaced. "There's..." She grimaced harder. "...no other choice—"

    "Wowie-wowie-wowie!" Pinkie Pie clutched her ghostly mane as it billowed in an invisible wind. She clenched her eyes shut and curled up into a mauve ball. "It's the big one—!"

    "Good heavens!" Rarity gasped, for within the next second—

Swooooooosh! Enix's figure flew in from the side and tackled Seraphimus' body before she was within talon range. A sky-piercing shriek announced the engagement.

    Ariel, Rainbow Dash, and several other figures looked in mid-battle to see...

    ...the two tangled warriors sailing off and piercing a tall column of dark storm clouds flanking the fight.

    Keris' feathery head nearly spun off his neck from tracing the movement of Seraphimus and Enix.

    In the following breath, the pair disappeared entirely from the Talon's view, obscured by mist and thunder.

    "Mrmmmmf!" Hissing, Seraphimus reached a talon out and caught a claw-ful of cloud. "Rrrrr—Raaaugh!" Anchoring herself, she flung Enix completely off.

    Enix flipped multiple times, made contact with the neck of a vertical wall of cloud, and flung one of her dual axes straight back at the griffon. "Eee-eee-eee!"

    Seraphimus waited... waited... and flung her talon up at the last second. CLANK! She miraculously made contact with the blade's hilt, sending it sailing skyward. The weapon disappeared in a blinding crack of lightning.

    As the strobe cleared, both warriors were left facing each other in the claustrophobic pocket of thunderclouds.

    Seraphimus panted.

    Enix panted.

    A roll of thunder.

    And then—

    "You are bathed in the blood of my siblings," Enix said. Not taking her eyes off Seraphimus, she casually reached out and caught her axe as it fell back down. "I shall remember that when I carve out your heart."

    "Seventh Tribe... forsaken bastards of the Seven Seas." Seraphimus' eyes narrowed. "Filth can only be defecated; never avenged."

    "You shall not claim the Blood of Luna." Enix's eyeslits narrowed. "I have pledged my life."

    Seraphimus' beak tightened. "Then you have pledged nothing."

    "Hrmmmm..." Enix smiled... then slowly... icily sliced a fresh scar across her own chest with the tip of one axe. Moments later, her fangs were flashing in the stormlights. "Hressssssssh!" She charged Seraphimus at full speed.

    And Seraphimus waited.

    Pinkie Pie's ears drooped. Her teeth chattered as she spun away from the lower stormcloud to gaze at her friends and anchor.

    Rarity gulped. "There's... there's no way she can survive that fight..." She rubbed her fetlocks together. "...is there?"

    Applejack tilted her hat back, exhaling. "She sure thinks she can."

    "Rainbow?" Ariel leaned in. "What now?"

    Rainbow hovered in a sudden stupor. Snapping out of it, she turned from the battle and faced her friends. "Fluttershy? What do your senses tell you? Is Enix handling it?"

    "Rainbow..."

    "Be honest with us—"

    "Rainbow, it's... it's something else," Fluttershy murmured, calming slightly.

    "What?"

    Sniffling, the ghostly pegasus pointed down.

    "...?" Rainbow spun about. She looked through the fight and saw four winged figures on an intercept course.

    "The Talon..." Twilight Sparkle murmured. Her ears perked up. "...Keris!"

    "And there are reinforcements," Fluttershy added in a nervous voice. "Another squadron—the first guardians who fell." She gulped. "It's nearly twice as much as our friends are battling now."

    "And they're on their way up!" Rarity exclaimed. "I can feel the metal of their blades!"

    "Rainbowwwww..." Ariel leaned in. "Please. Talk to me. What's the score?"

    Rainbow's eyes were locked on the Talon below. She raised her voice to be heard above the clattering and clanging of blades. "Ariel, you have to trust me..."

    "Commander!" Raptr sputtered. "Seraphimus! She just—"

    "I saw." Keris nodded without looking aside. "Eyes front."

    "Huh?"

    "I see," Windburst said, expert eyes locked on the prismatic target. "Orders?"

    "We've got to bridge the gap!" Starstorm said. "Once and for all!"

    "Agreed. Do not change course!" Keris hollered, accelerating swiftly through the battling bodies. "No matter what!"

    "Full feather!" Windburst shouted.

    "And once we make contact..." Keris sneered, squinting into the misty winds. "...get her out of the fight!"

    "Fire up a flare," Rainbow Dash said, hovering out into the open. "Order a retreat to the east."

    "Huh?" Ariel followed Rainbow's line of sight. At last, she saw what the mare saw. "Oh gosh—"

    "Ariel!" Rainbow snapped.

    Ariel ripped her eyes off the Talon.

    "This is your time to shine." Rainbow squinted. "I need you to form the retreat! Let Wildcard take up the rear!"

    "But—"

    "Then fire another flare to signal a detachment to reach the final platform!" Rainbow said. "Bard's about to split up Chandler's forces! Once that happens, we need to get a drop on them! The drop! Do you understand?"

    "I do! But... but what about you—"

    "I will be fine! I promise!" Rainbow hollered—then suddenly grunted as she was attacked by a random Frostknifer. She easily fought off the warrior, taking the moment to sneer at Ariel once again: "This had to come to pass! It's the only way to seal the deal!"

    "What deal?!"

    "Have faith!" Rainbow sputtered. "Faith in Keris!"

    Ariel fidgeted in mid-air.

    "Friggin' go, you sexy melon fudge!" Rainbow—alone—grunted as more and more Frostknifers singled her out. She spun in a frenzied circle, fighting them off one by one.

    Ariel frowned... shook... then spun about completely. She flew up to join a group of sarosians still armed with runic cannons.

    "She's alone!" Raptr shouted, pointing. "You see?!"

    "She's outnumbered!" Starstorm exclaimed.

    "No..." Keris grunted against the friction of the stormy winds. "...she's singling herself out."

    "We've got a good bearing on her now!" Windburst grunted.

    "Yes..." Keris hissed. "...just as she wants us to."

    "Commander...?" Starstorm stammered.

    "Do not slow down!" Keris shouted, piercing the heart of the fight as bodies zipped past them faster and faster. "We must make this look good for Chandler's side! Give the soldiers faith! Prolong the battle!"

    "To what end—?!" Raptr began, but didn't finish. Two sarosians collided with the rookie in mid-air. Breathless, the Talon member flew sideways, struggling to fight them off.

    "Raptr—!" Starstorm made to veer after him.

    "Stay on point, Sergeant!" Keris grunted.

    "Rrrnngh!" she grunted, twirling to avoid a group of bat ponies lunging at them.

    Runic charges exploded above and behind them. Lightning forked as thunder broiled.

    Velvety bodies doubled in the Talon's peripheral.

    Panting, Windburst yelled aside: "Commander! They'll form a front to blockade us—!"

    "Right!" Keris nodded. "Go! Do it!"

    Windburst broke formation. Summoning a war cry from deep within his lungs, he barreled sideways and plowed mercilessly into the advancing nightblood flock. The group was thrown into chaos as Keris and Starstorm soared past them.

    "Commander..." Starstorm trembled, her wing muscles growing weak.

    "Just a little further..." Keris droned.

    Starstorm squinted into the winds. "Only the two of us—?"

    "We're going to intercept her," Keris said with his final breath. He braced his upper body muscles. "Only because she's going to let us."

    Starstorm nodded in silence. Together, the two remaining members of the Talon threaded their way through the last remaining meters of the battle.

    Rainbow Dash kicked one soldier, punched another, and deflected the spear-stab of a third.

    She yanked the spear from his grasp, uppercutted the Frostknifer, and spun about...

    ...to see Pinkie Pie's twitching face. "Brace yourself, Dashie—"

    A wall of talons and feathers shot through her and connected with Rainbow.

    Rainbow's body was prepared. The spear in her grasp was not. The weapon flew into splinters as Keris and Starstorm impacted her figure.

    With a combined grunt, Starstorm and Keris expertly twisted their wings. Their upwards arc curved about, and soon they were plummeting with Rainbow Dash in tow. The combined push threw the whole group downwards, sailing murderously past bruised soldiers and gasping sarosians. Twilight and the rest of the ghostly mares yelped, forced to flail after them by a lavender force field.

    "Haaaaaaaaaaugh!" Enix came sailing down at Seraphimus with both axes swinging.

    "Hrttt!" Seraphimus crossed her forelimbs, blocking the hilts of both weapons and holding Enix back.

    Lightning flickered around them...

    ...just in time to illuminate the flesh of three bodies piercing that very pocket of stormclouds from above.

    Seraphimus' charcoal eyes twitched. Feverishly, she looked all around for a trailing streak of rainbow color that had briefly crossed her vision.

    Enix capitalized on the moment, twisting her grip of the axes. "Hssssssssh!"

Sliiiink! Seraphimus' shoulder suffered a deep gash.

    "Aaaaaugh!" Seraphimus' pupils shrank. The whites of her eyes brimmed with lightning. "You want blood?!?" With a focused grunt, she uncrossed her arms, knocking back Enix's grip of her axe-hilts. In the shriek that followed, she threw her body forward, mounting Enix's chest and biting a beak-full of ear. Without hesitation, she tightened her neck muscles and twisted.

    When Enix next screamed, she could only half-hear it. Dropping both axes, she hugged her savage assailant just as tightly and dug her fangs deep into Seraphimus' right arm. Bloodily, the two wrestled and pinballed off the insides of the stormcloud.

    While down below...

    ...Keris, Starstorm, and Rainbow Dash continued their plunge.

    Their bodies formed a single comet of feathers and fuzz as they approached sea level.

    The sight was not lost to Chandler's Armada.

    "Defense Minister!" a crew pony hollered, pointing northwest from where they cruised.

    Chandler wrenched his eyes off the distant Stardust to the east. He caught sight of the three figures in their mutual dive. His jaw dropped. "Verlaxion's sleet, Commander, you've done it..."

    Eyes wide, multiple members of the Central Guard watched as the Talon and Rainbow plunged towards the line of rocks.

    At the culmination of their fall, they sailed straight into the decrepit shell of a shipwreck...

SMASSSSH!

    ...and collapsed deep inside the ancient wooden structure.

    "Ooomf!" Starstorm sprawled across a rocky bed.

    "Grnngh!" Keris went sliding to a stop against the remnants of a battered mast.

    "Httt!" Rainbow was the only one to land with a modicum of grace. She backflipped and slid to a stop, surrounded by a smattering of loose splinters. Wheezing, she struck a fighting pose, leaning up on rear hooves. "Look! I told them to go easy on you guys! I mean it—!"

    "Rainbow..." Keris wheezed, struggling to stand up.

    Starstorm squirmed atop the rocky platform.

    Rainbow sputtered into the hazy shadows of the hollow wreck while runic explosions thundered outside. "But it's a friggin' bloodbath! And... and then Seraphimus comes soaring in all panties and vinegar and—"

    "At ease!" Keris hollered, glaring.

    "...!!!" Rainbow Dash plopped down on all fours, standing at attention.

    Starstorm looked up, dazed and breathless.

    Keris stood, took a calming breath, and spoke: "Now... we haven't much time."

    Rainbow gulped. "No. We haven't."

    "Please..." Keris motioned with his talon. "Give us the short version."

    Rainbow looked at her marefriends. Then—trembling—she looked back at Keris. And nodded.

    "Make it super short," Starstorm wheezed... then collapsed again. Thwump.

    "Hy'myll!!!"

    "Wy'lymym symlym!"

    Several sarosians high above paused in battle, gawking at the broken patch of clouds through which Rainbow had been forcefully shoved by the combined force of Keris and Starstorm.

    "W'ynlppa yln H'luun ly'slym w'lynym!"

    "Ywm! S'lyssa wy'lymmlym sylym'wylm!"

    "Eee-eee-eee!"

    Blades drawn, several nightblood warriors broke from the fight and dove to the rescue...

    ...only for Ariel to fly directly in front of them. She blocked their charge with forelimbs outstretched.

    "No! No! She's alright!"

    The sarosians merely sneered at her.

    "Trust me!" Ariel stared them down, frowning. "This is all part of the plan!" Taking a deep breath, she then shouted, "There's a thick wave of reinforcements coming from the west! The Blood of Luna needs us to perform a temporary retreat!" She gestured to one sarosian. "Fire the signal! We head east! And you!" She caught the attention of another group. "Signal for the 'drop,' then head to the platforms! The Stardust is about to make its move and you're the backup!"

    The warriors exchanged glances... then nodded in one accord. Shrieking to one another, they flocked east while two separate groups primed their runic cannons.

    "Wildcard!" Ariel yelped, already flapping her wings and cruising east. "Wildcard! Time to go! Move your kitty cat butt!"

WHACK!

    Wildcard punched a hapless pegasus in the muzzle with his metal fist.

    Panting, he twirled his combined nightsticks and turned to face a line of soldiers.

    "...Wildcard!"

    His shoulders shook upon hearing Ariel's shouting voice. Goggles glinted with the fresh flash of bright blue light from above. The first of two flares was being fired high into the misty troposphere. As it exploded, the Desperado could spot a dense wave of Rohbredden reinforcements flying up from the lower west clouds.

    Beak clenched, the griffon split his nightsticks back into two, pocketed them into his bandolier, and turned tail. He sliced eastward in a swift glide...

    ...bursting a cloudbed to vapors just above Windburst's rattled skull.

    "Grffff!" The sergeant wrestled with three separate sarosians who were lingering behind the group flocking east. Fanged teeth and whalebone blades nipped at his feathery neck. "Go... huff on some... guano!"

    The group overpowered him. One particularly strong midnighter raised his hoof to slam hard into Windburst's beak.

WHAM! A savage paw from above slammed across the bat pony's cheek, followed by a merciless uppercut. The sarosian nearly backflipped from the combined blows.

    Windburst wheezed, flailing back as Raptr's figure soared in, knocking the attackers off him completely. The sarosians grasped their pummeled companion... and flew east instead of re-engaging with the two Talon members.

    A breath later, Raptr was reaching over to support Windburst's figure in a steady hover.

    The Sergeant gulped, visibly dazed. "I owe you one, rookie."

    "Didn't think I'd live to hear that," Raptr replied. Before he could say anything else, he and his superior were greeted with the sound of whipping winds. They looked around themselves to see that the sarosians had formed a hasty retreat. What's more, Chandler's reinforcements were flying speedily after them with passionate vigor. "Looks like the battle's shifted!"

    "Obviously." Gulping, Windburst squinted up at the remnants of a blue plume of runic fire. "That magic. They're signaling each other."

    "What the heck is Rainbow Dash planning?"

    "I don't know." Windburst flapped his wings, urging himself and Raptr east. "But one thing's for sure: we gotta stick with the soldiers."

    "What if it's just another trap?"

    "Doesn't matter!" Windburst's beak clenched hard. "Whatever the Commander and Starstorm's got planned with Rainbow, they'll be needing us to keep tabs on the battlefront!"

    "Have you seen what happened to Chandler's armada?" Raptr asked, flying even with Windburst as they followed the eastward chase of the sarosians. "I lost track of it during that final charge! There isn't much of the world left, y'know!"

    "Beats me. But if Keris and Rainbow can work something out, then maybe we won't have to worry about—"

    Windburst's speech was interrupted by a brilliant flash of purple light. He and Raptr looked up, gawking at a fresh runic flame.

    "What in the Hell does that mean?" Raptr asked.

    Windburst could only shrug. "Limited time sale on saddlebags?"

    The purple flare arced over a stormcloud...

    ...and illuminated the lower twilight of the world's edge. It's pulsating aura could easily be seen from the Emeraldian platforms.

    "And now there's a purple one!" Flynn exclaimed, his metal lens rotating above a bright grin. "Everything's right on track!"

    "Hell yeah!" Logan shifted the weight of his axe and approached the western edge of the granite. "Time to get my hooves wet!"

    "Stave your manic enthusiasm for a sane second, mortal," Remna droned. She turned to look back at Flynn. "The blue flare just seconds ago..." Her draconian eyes narrowed. "...that means Enix's flock is retreating. Yes?"

    "But they held their position for so damn long!" Flynn said with a smug grin. "Now that the purple signal's burning through the sky, that can only mean Chandler's taking our bait like a ravenous shark! It's time to help Bard out with the drop!"

    "But... if the Austraeoh was in trouble..." Remna's brow furrowed. "...they would find a way to inform us as well...?"

    "Therre was no colorred signal designed forr that, drragon one," Kepler said from the very edge.

    "And why not?" Remna growled.

    Kepler adjusted his fogged spectacles. Tusks shone in a flash of lightning. "The Austrraeoh did not wish to accept failurre."

    Remna said nothing to that.

    "Hey walrus guy!" Logan hollered towards the end of the world. "Got your shit ready?"

    "By crrude excrrement, I assume you rreferr to my alchemic tools!" Kepler pointed a claw at a rain-soaked satchel. "Therre it be, frriend! Rready forr yourr experrt application!"

    "Bitchin'." Logan trotted over and heaved the bag over his shoulder along with his axe. "Now... if only those bat ponies would get their velvety plots over here..."

    "There are six headed this way at full speed, Big Show," Flynn said, gazing west with his prosthetic eye. "It'll be your time to shine soon enough!"

    Remna gazed past him. She observed the golden spokes with the rattling alicorn chains right above the deluge. "Is the Gondola any closer?"

    "Harrd to tell, Axan," Kepler said, shaking his head. "The speed of the moving chains has not changed."

    Remna growled, "If that lift does not arrive soon, all is lost."

    Kepler glared back at her. "If we lose hope in Rrainbow, it will mean nothing once it does arrrive!"

    Remna was silent. The air chimed with empty, dangling chalices between the thunder.

    "The Darrk Side continues to wait! Rright now, we must finish ourr business in the light!"

    With a somber breath, Remna turned to face west once again. Her slitted eyes lingered on the purple flare...

    ...just as the lunar dust dissipated, falling like snow into the narrow spaces between stormclouds. Lightning flickered, melting them away... and the ensuing thunder serenaded the bodies of two bloodied warriors in intense combat.

    "Rrrrrgh!" Seraphimus blocked and dodged multiple axe swings.

    "Eee-eee-eee!" Enix twirled and swung and sliced with her blades.

    Seraphimus backflipped, ducked a savage swing, then slammed two of her rear paws hard into Enix's belly. Whump!

    Enix flew back from the blow, then slammed her back into a vertical column of dark-gray clouds.

    "Htttt!" Seraphimus charged straight at her, serrated talons raised.

    Enix crossed her blades—Clannnng!—blocking Seraphimus' attack. She headbutted the enraged griffon, then swung her whalebone weapons apart. "Hresssh!"

    Seraphimus flew backwards from the dual swipe. Her charcoal eyes twitched, reflecting one of the axes being thrown at her skull. Swisssssh! She ducked—barely—and a few headcrest feathers were lopped off at the base of their quills.

    Sucking in her breath, Enix kicked off the cloud and came sailing down at her opponent with the single axe swinging savagely. She shrieked into the storm as a fork of lightning illuminated her dark descent. In the ensuing blackness, her blade struck nothing—for Seraphimus had used the blinding strobe to strafe sideways, unseen.

    Enix's eyeslits darted from side to side. She only had one good ear now, so she tilted her skull left—hearing nothing but thunder. She then tilted her skull right—

    "RAAAAAAAAUGH!" Seraphimus speared her in the side, shoving her beak deep into Enix's ribs. Schlunnnk!

    The nightblood warrior opened her muzzle to scream, but her lungs were too agonized to produce a breath. She slammed her elbow down onto Seraphimus' skull.

    Seraphimus bore the brunt of the blow. As vision flickered in her brain, she managed to overpower Enix, grasping for control of the axe. The two struggled for a bit, wrestling for the hilt. At last, with a bloody roar, Seraphimus simply kicked the blunt middle of the blade. CRACK! Pale whalebone bits splintered between them. Seraphimus plunged through the calcified cloud, shoving Enix down... down... down through the narrow pocket of storms. Each flash of lightning illuminated a splash of blood as Seraphimus' merciless talons raked and sliced at Enix's trembling, guarding fetlocks.

    At last, air found its way back into Enix's lungs, and it came out in a high-pitched shriek that broke the heavens.

    "East!" Ariel shouted, flying at the front of the sarosian flock. "Fly east until you reach the clouds we built above the shoals! Wait for the Drop to finish! You'll know it when you hear it!" She turned and gestured at the midnighters around her. "We'll hold our position there in the sky! The last stand! The Central Guard must *not*** advance any further!"

    Wildcard took up the rear. He had a full survey of the surviving members of Xarchellus' defenders. But that wasn't what had stolen his attention at the moment.

    "...?" In a jerking motion, the griffon looked back and behind him. His goggled eyes searched the clouds below. Silent, he tilted his head to listen.

    Beyond the thunder... beyond the wingflaps and angry shouts of the pursuing Frostknifers...

    "... ... ..." Wildcard's flesh and metal talons clenched tightly.

    "Use whatever you can to hold back the enemy!" Ariel shouted to their allies. "Stormclouds! Lightning! Even rainwater! Those of you with cannons, lock and load your last runes! We have to buy Rainbow Dash time to board the Gondola!" Looking back, she hollered: "Wildcard! How close are the enemy reinforcements?"

    No response.

    Ariel's ears drooped. "Wildcard?"

    Wildcard was gone.

    "Grkkk..." Enix choked on her own blood. Squinting through one good eye, she coiled her muscles, flew backwards, and flung a left hoof... then a right.

    Seraphimus easily dodged the blows, twirled to the side, then kicked Enix hard in the flank.

    "Aaaugh!" Clothed in over two dozen fresh scars, Enix barreled sideways.

Fwooooosh! Seraphimus was there in a blur. She greeted Enix's lopsided glide with an uppercut. WHAM! She followed this with a full set of talons slicing mercilessly across the sarosian's backside. Sliiiiiiink!

    "Eeeeeeeeeugh!" Enix plummeted back.

Th-Thump! Seraphimus' claws closed tightly around Enix's trembling neck. The griffon lifted her in a vice-like choke hold. The two hovered a hundred feet above the choppy waves. Enix dangled like a bird-of-prey's last meal, and her wings could barely move.

    Seraphimus took a few deep, fuming breaths. Just as her claws began sinking in...

    ...Enix managed a wheezing chuckle through her fangs.

    Seraphimus raised an eyecrest at that. "Pleasure?"

    "Hrkkk..." Enix's slitted pupils rolled back. "A good death."

    The griffon exhaled heatedly. "A pitiful life." Schiiiiiing! She unsheathed a dagger from her belt. The crest of Queen Verlaxion glinted with moisture and lightning. "I'll make this quick so you won't have to taste the pain of the Rainbow Rogue's betrayal."

    Enix's velvety lids closed. "Syl'pymmyl, H'Luun," she whispered to the dark winds.

    And Seraphimus shoved the dagger straight into Enix's throat...

    ...only for it to suddenly stop in mid-air. The tip of the blade quivered mere millimeters from the sarosian's jugular vein.

    Seraphimus blinked at the hilt of the blade as it magically resisted her. Off in the distance, a metallic vibration intensified. "... ... ...Jordan." She threw a sharp look over her shoulder.

    A shadow murked towards her. Twin lenses glinted in the stormlights.

    "Httt!" Seraphimus spun about. She flung the knife up at the smokey figure.

Cl-Clank! Twin nightsticks deflected the dagger with a flash of sparks. With a mute snarl, Wildcard descended upon her with the full weight of righteousness.

WHAM! Seraphimus and Wildcard went plunging one way...

    ...and Enix's limp figure fell the other.

    A flash of lightning showed the three bodies splitting. The waves below sprayed hungry mists before the inevitable thunder cascaded, enshrouding the delicious chaos of the moment.

    "Ryckmun!" a voice jubilantly shrieked through the gnarled chambers of Bleak's Plummet. All around the huddled sarosians, runes embedded in the walls flickered to life with renewed vigor. "S'lywymym th'yslla ly'symylm syl thy'wymyn!"

    "Ly'symwym!" Echo hollered back, suddenly grinning. As more shrieks rang through the corridors, he let loose a high-pitched chirp. "Eee-eee-eee! Sy'wysslym Xarchellus w'ylymm syl my'wym!"

    It took all of Nicole's will-power to wrench her gaze from the flares and flashes of the ongoing battle to the east. "What? What is it? Sounds like good news!"

    "Only the goodest!" Echo beamed. "The rune-keepers are making progress! I'm being told that we're minutes away from the lunar stones being re-enchanted!"

    "Does... does that mean—?"

    Echo nodded, patting Nicole's shoulder. "We're just minutes away from taking another dive." He gazed out the translucent window, eyeslits narrowing. "At this rate... those bastards will never catch up to us."

    "Then... this is going to work?"

    "For us and the rest of Bleak's Plummet, totally."

    Nicole gulped, her eyes locked once again on the shadows beyond the tempestuous waves. "And... and Rainbow and the rest?" She bit her lip. "How will we know they've made it?"

    Echo took a deep breath, his smile fading for the moment. "Red."

    "Huh?"

    "A red flare," Echo said. "That's the signal for Enix and her nightblood butt-buddies to fly west and rejoin the Exodus."

    "And... and it will mean that Johnny and Rainbow made it to the elevator, right?" Nicole tilted the brim of Bard's hat and looked directly at Echo. "Right?"

    He swallowed. "We can only hope."

    There was more than a little bit of trembling.

    "It will arrive here any m-minute!" Rainbow Dash stammered, wet and shivering. Her voice cracked, echoing against the broken and bent shell of the wooden shipwreck around them. "Mortuana's half-sister and the Emeraldinians from the far west b-built it ages ago—"

    "Don't get hung up on the tiny details, Rainbow," Twilight insisted—

    "Rrrrr..." Rainbow clenched her teeth. "Bottom line is—the Gondola will take us to the Dark Side so I c-can finish my flight to the Midnight Armory along with the Herald! We're just trying to fight off Chandler's thugs until the thing gets here! That's it! We d-don't want to kill you guys!"

    Keris nodded, waving a talon. "And..." His hawkeyes narrowed. His posture was calm despite the tension in everyone's voices. "...that giant floating structure to the west?"

    "It's Bleak's Plummet!"

    "That's Bleak's Plummet?" Starstorm wheezed, finally getting up on all four limbs.

    Rainbow Dash nodded. "The sarosians... the midnighters..." She gulped. "Princess Luna spoke to them through her enchantment on my pendant." She held a hoof to the Element of Loyalty. "She c-convinced them to assist us. They're loyal to me and everything I say. The goal here is just to hold out until the Gondola arrives! I promise!"

    "I believe you, Rainbow—"

    "No, listen!" Rainbow's eyes narrowed on Keris. "The Seventh Tribe has no quarrel with Rohbredden or the Central Guard. Luna and I sent them on a mass exodus west... back home! Back to Equestria!" Her ears twitched in earnest as she spoke. "They're going to head through the southern waters—avoiding all continentals and colonialists and wiendigoes. Once they get to the Grand Choke, they're gonna be in for a tough time but—you have to believe me—they have no intention of messing with anypony from Rohbredden—"

    "You want us to allow them safe passage," Starstorm declared.

    "Bleak's Plummet looks big, but it's like a giant hard-boiled egg! It's super squishy and fragile! They can't fight off a single squadron of Central Guardians! You have to understand—"

    "Say no more," Keris insisted. He stepped closer to the petite pegasus. "I will do everything in my power to make sure that their westward journey is unchallenged."

    Rainbow gazed at him, trembling. She gulped. "Theanim Mane—"

    "He will assist the cause with no less passion," Keris said. "This, I can assure you."

    Applejack looked at Rainbow. "He's tellin' the truth, sugarcube."

    Rarity spoke up: "I think we all know that already, Applejack."

    Rainbow glanced at her friends, then at Keris. Her ears drooped as the trembling increased. "I'm... I'm s-sorry for everything."

    "Rainbow Dash..." Keris exhaled.

    "For... for Verlaxion. For Frostknife. The wiendigoes." She grimaced, flinching as more thunderous blasts rocked the wooden shipwreck around them. "For... f-for everything! And now this... this crud." She clenched her teeth. "I had to blow up the first ship. We hadn't planned for that. It was the only way to stage this like we needed to. And now we've got to put the drop on another ship or else they'll ruin everything—"

    "Shhhhhh..." Keris rested a talon on Rainbow's shoulder. "We both know that Chandler's the real obstacle here. We've been trying our best to hamper his progress. We've only been moderately successful."

    Rainbow took a deep breath, staring him down. "It's not Chandler I'm worried about."

    Keris blinked.

    Starstorm cleared her throat. "Commander, we can't linger much longer."

    "The Sergeant's right." Keris nodded, facing Rainbow again. "Your defense force is noble—but they are outnumbered."

    "I'm guessing there isn't much you can do about that."

    "At the first opportunity I get, I will command our forces to retreat back to Frostknife."

    "Yeah?" Rainbow arched an eyebrow. "What are the odds of that happening?"

    "This 'drop' you speak of." Keris cocked his head aside. "I assume the aim is to completely disable what's left of Chandler's armada?"

    "Yeah." Rainbow nodded. "Assuming Bard and company have our backs."

    "And they totally-doodily-do!" Pinkie Pie chirped, giggling.

    Rainbow glanced at her, then back at Keris. "We just might spook Chandler badly enough for him to give authority to you."

    "That could still happen." Keris nodded. "In the meantime, you should return to your Herald. We will protect them from both sides of the front."

    "I... I couldn't have gotten this far without you, dude..." Rainbow's voice took on a squeaking tone. "Once the Gondola arrives and I'm Dark Side bound, I'll be out of your feathers—I swear. Rohbredden... Kihutaja... I'll be out of everyone's hair."

    Keris managed a smile. "We're better for having had you... if even for a blink."

    Rainbow's muzzle dropped. "But... Verlaxion... the wiendigoes..."

    "Yes, it pains us. Endangers us. But one day... we will have peace because of it." Keris took a breath. "Perhaps then... our children will be ready for the truth. Not just to embrace it... but to share it with the likes of Equestria's descendants. And we will be friends once again."

    Applejack smiled. She looked at Rainbow.

    Rainbow took a shuddering breath. Misty eyes reflected Keris' calm expression. "When you see Theanim... tell him Echo is safe. Happy... and he's going home."

    "You have my word." Keris leaned forward. "Now... hit me."

    Fluttershy and Rarity did double-takes.

    Rainbow blinked. "What?"

    "For this encounter to be convincing... it will have to look as though you overpowered us both in battle," Keris said.

    "Otherwise, the Central Guard might suspect something," Starstorm said, approaching the two. "Their superstitious belief in the Blight will do the rest."

    "Okay..." Rainbow tightened her muscles. "...though I can't say I'll enjoy this." She looked at Starstorm—

    "No." Keris stood in the way. "Just me."

    Starstorm looked at him. "But—"

    "My prerogative." He pointed a talon at her. "I need you to help round up the Talon once again. Track down Seraphimus." He looked at Rainbow. "Nullify all threats."

    Rainbow breathed, rearing her hooves. "Thank you."

    Keris stared into her limbs. "Good luck, Rainbow Dash."

WHAM! He punched him savagely across the beak.

    Keris took the blow. He squinted at her. Magenta eyes piercing.

    Rainbow brought both fetlocks together and whalloped him twice more. WHAM!

    Twilight and Pinkie winced.

WHACK!

    Sputtering blood, Keris leaned into Rainbow Dash. Rainbow gripped him while Starstorm grasped both "combatants" from the side. A combined breath... a mental countdown... and—

SMASSSH!

    —all three bodies went careening out the top of the shipwreck, showering the tempestuous waters with loose chunks of wood.

    The advancing line of Central Guardians glanced down in mid-flight.

    "Rrrrrrgh!" Rainbow Dash spread her wings out in a violent display. Starstorm and Keris were tossed off like ragdolls. "Stupid punks!" she spat, gnashing her teeth in the twilight. "You call that 'Rohbredden's Finest!' Ha!" With a flick of her short tail, she turned east and ascended rapidly. "Verlaxion's children are even lamer than she was! You're not worth my time!"

    Starstorm and Keris plummeted...

    ...until a group of armored soldiers dove down, catching their bodies.

    "Commander!"

    "The Rainbow Rogue! You found her!"

    "How did you—"

    "Grkkk!" Keris gargled blood, raising a weak talon towards the thunderous sky. "Powerful! Far... m-more powerful than I anticipated...!"

    "We didn't stand a chance on our own against her!" Starstorm added, wheezing.

    "The Talon c-can't afford to engage her on its own!" Keris stammered. Spitting blood, he frowned towards the heavens. "We need the Central Guard! Either we bear the full weight of Verlaxion's wrath on her or we don't fight her at all!"

    "Then... th-then what are your orders, sir?"

    "Signal the soldiers!" Keris hollered. "Tell them to wait right here!"

    "Wh-what?!" one soldier gasped. "But... but the Rogue is getting away—"

    "Wait here to regroup!" Keris insisted. He flapped his wings, managing a weak but stable hover. "Then—once we're one full squadron again—we will form a line and break through the final thunderclouds!" He hollered at the rest of the guardians as they flew close. "She's got nowhere left to run! Stay strong!" He waved a talon in the air. "Hold position and standby for orders!"

    "You heard your Commander!" Starstorm exclaimed.

    The soldiers blinked at one another. Then—with a shared scowl—they tilted towards the heavens and shouted at the rest of the straggling groups: "Hold here to regroup! Commander's orders!"

"Guardians of Rohbredden...!"

"Form up!"

"Form up!"

"Show of arms!"

    Fluttershy squinted at the airborne troops behind as they grew more and more distant. She turned to face Rainbow in mid-flight. "It's working! The line is holding!"

    "Good!" Rainbow stammered, piercing the clouds in her ascent. "That should give us some breathing room!"

    "What now?" Applejack asked.

    "We gotta meet up with Ariel and the others, right?" Pinkie asked.

    "They're up there!" Twilight pointed at the top of a line of thunderclouds above the shoals. "I can sense the runic cannons being recharged!"

    "Good..." Rainbow Dash shuddered, squinting into the mists and lightning. "...now we wait for the Drop. If anything will egg Chandler on one last time... it's that."

    "Come on, Bard..." Rarity wrung her forelimbs together. "Come on, you handsome devil, you..."

    "Defense Minister!" A griffon along the ship's stern lowered a spyglass and looked towards the center of the vessel. "The Rainbow Rogue! She's escaped the grasp of the Talon"

    "What?!" Chandler hollered from his chariot. "How badly is the Commander's team hurt?!" Before he could be answered, the ship rocked as a loud grating noise pierced everyone's ears.

Scraaaaaaaaaaaaape!

    "Rnnngh!" Chandler steadied himself as the ship finished grazing the edge of a jutting rock along the port side. He reached out and slapped a random soldier. "Easy does it!"

    The soldier winced and shouted towards the bow. "Keep us clear of the rocks!"

    "Sorry! But..." A charter grimaced, his eyes reflecting countless shoals and splashing waves. "...there are so m-many of them!"

    Chandler leaned forward, shouting into the noise of roaring water. "At least tell us our sister ship is making headway!"

    "Yes, from the look of it!" Another pony stared down a spyglass. The hull of the other privateer vessel appeared in brief glimpses between the rock structures ahead. "It should be gaining on the Blighted vessel any moment now!"

    "Keep an eye on them!" Chandler exclaimed. "We need to destroy the source of that artillery barrage as quickly as possible!"

    "Sir!" the spotter at the ship's stern stammered. "Our forces!"

    "Shhh!" Chandler waved a blind hoof, squinting beyond the bow. "Yes—yes! They're chasing the Rogue! As I ordered them—"

    "That's... th-that's just it, Minister! They're not!"

    "Overpowering the Talon is one thing, but the entire squadron—" Chandler did a double-take. He looked back at the stern, muzzle agape. "Whaaat?"

    "They're... holding position in the air!"

    "Stationary?"

    "Aye, sir?"

    Chandler's emerald eyes darted around. The hair beneath his armor stood on end as he scowled. "The Commander... is he among them?"

    "I... I believe so, yes."

    Chandler gnashed his teeth, pacing about inside his chariot. "Dammit... dammit..." He clenched his eyes shut. "Blast it, Seraphimus, where are you...?"

    The Defense Minister was too distracted to see their sister ship ahead of them passing right between two ancient shipwrecks.

    "Here it comes..." Bard leaned forward over the Stardust's rudder-wheel, staring intensely at the incoming vessel. "Here it friggin' comes..."

    "They do not suspect a thing," one sarosian said, squatting beside his companion with a brightly-enchanted bleakweed cannon. "Even with the silence of our runes."

    "And the ship behind them?"

    "Keeping a safe distance." The sarosian squinted. "But... they also appear distracted."

    "Well, they're fixin' to get more flummoxed." Bard took a deep breath. "Just say the word... once the first ship's halfway through the strait..."

    "Aaaaaaand..." The sarosian's leafy ears perked up. His fangs flashed. "...they're in position!"

    "Now!" Bard hollered. "Light it up!"

    The first sarosian patted his partner's shoulder.

"Y'mnym!" the warrior hissed into the cannon's runes. They flared up with brilliant sparks. He followed it up with a bold: "M'wynhrm!"

Pffffffffffftchoooom! The thick missile of enchanted runes flew brightly—and loudly. Carrying an extra dense payload of lunar dust, the projectile hurled like a screaming banshee over the forest of rocky structures...

    ...and trailed sparks over the front ship of Chandler's armada.

    Dumbfounded, the crew ponies on board watched it fly overhead. Their bodies turned—necks craning—as they nervously watched the culmination of its arc.

    The projectile flew harmlessly past the vessel's bow.

    "Whew..." One pegasus turned to smirk at a griffon. "Dumb midnighters. They missed!"

    That's precisely when the missile flew in between the twin shipwrecks behind them. The runic aura triggered the explosive enchantments placed within the separate structures hours ago and—

PHWOOOOOMB!

    A solid wall of burning flame stretched across the rocks, blocking the strait entirely. Meanwhile, layers of splintery debris rained down on the ship.

    The crew shrieked and flailed. They hadn't a moment to react to the debris—for their ship was being propelled forward by a miniature tidal wave of boiling proportion.

    The helmsman struggled to keep the vessel straight. It was a futile endeavor. Within seconds they were ricocheting off one rock formation after another—until at last the craft grinded to a halt against a chunk of smoothe granite. Water thoroughly soaked the Frostknifers as they fought to maintain their balance.

THOOMB!

    Chandler gasped, spinning around in his chariot. What he saw nearly blinded him. He raised an armored forelimb, shading his eyes from the solid wall of fire erupting before the bow of the ship.

    Waves of salt water rolled westward, tossing the ship from side to side. The soldiers on board groaned in discomfort. Moisture evaporated off the hull from the sheer heat of the runic discharge.

    "Flames!" a charter sputtered, reeling. "We're headed straight for it—!"

    "All stop!" Chandler exclaimed. "All stop, damn you!"

    "Allll stoppp!"

    The gears of the ship's engines rattled. Smoke erupted through the deckplates. Nevertheless, they were miraculously able to hault the vessel's movement before the bow could kiss the vaporous plasma erecting a burning wall ahead of them.

    "Nnnngh..." Chandler clenched his teeth. He squinted into the blaze, gazing north and south. "More blight..." Sweating, he glanced frantically at the shoals around them. "Can we find a way around?"

    "I... I see no path, sir!"

    "What do you mean you see no path?!"

    "The shoals are too dense here!" a crew pony hollered back. "We'd have to double-back about two hundred meters and bend south for the fastest alternative route!"

    Chandler panted and panted. He squinted once more through the flames, scarcely making out the shadow of their sister ship. "Blessed Verlaxion, what next?"

    The two sarosians on board the Stardust lowered their cannons as they paused to admire their hoofwork.

    "V'wylynm syl'm H'Luun!" Grinning fangs. "Direct hit!"

    The air echoed with flapping wings. Several shadows from the east skirted over the hull of Flynn's vessel.

    "Yeeeeeeeeee-haaa!" Bard pumped a hoof in the air. "Give 'em Hell, Job Squad!"

    The shadows approached the beached ship just east of the flame, but the crew members on board were too frantic and panicking to notice.

    "We have to dislodge her!"

    "Is she taking on water?!"

    "One thing at a time!"

    "Can we signal Chandler's ship for assistance?!"

    "Lieutenant, we can't even see the Minister's ship!"

    "Quick! More fuel to the engines! Maybe we can force her free with—"

    "With what?! We'll burn out!"

    Just then, a griffon shrieked. A shaking talon pointed skyward as the shadows descended. "Incoming!"

    "Incoming?" The lead officer on board the ship turned about with a frown. "What do you mean, 'incoming'—?" His frown instantly vanished.

    Six sarosians flew in, but they did not land. They did—however—drop their cargo directly onto the vessel.

    ...cargo in the shape of a draconian mare and an obese stallion downswinging a murderously heavy axe.

    "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand—" Big Show landed in a way that could only live up to his nickname. "—brown your pants, daisy-chainers!"

    His war cry was punctuated by the deafenning impact of metal against metal. CLANNNNNNG! The sharp blade of his axe split a length of deckplates into ribbons, knocking hapless Rohbreddenites off their hooves and talons.

    Gasps and yelps filled the air as half-a-dozen troops collapsed in an instant.

    The rest galloped straight for Logan's flank...

    ...only to be pummeled against the railings by Remna's figure as soon as she landed. WHUD! WH-WHUD! Without a second's hesitation, the violet mare spun around and savagely bucked two other crew members off the starboard side—screaming.

    Hyperventilating, a panicked pair of guardians raised crossbows and fired them at the mare.

Cl-Clink! They ricocheted harmlessly off her invulnerable hide. She turned towards them, glaring. "No." Thud-Thud-Thud! Unstoppable hooves carried her across the deck. She impacted the shrieking soldiers and shoved them past Logan's axe-swinging figure.

    "Wooooooo!" CLANGGGG! Logan tore more holes in the ship, knocking crew members onto their flanks. CLACKKK! "Welcome to the end of the world, assholes!" WHUDDD! "What were you expecting?! A god dayum photo-op?! HA!" THWACKKK!

    Between Logan's merciless swings and Remna's trampling limbs, the remaining guardians panicked completely. They flapped their wings and took off—only to be blasted back to the deckplates by exploding runes fired by the six sarosians circling around the fresh wreck.

"H'rhnum!"

"H'rhnum!"

"H'rhnum!"

P-P-POW!!!

    "Rrrrgh!" Logan whalloped a few grounded soldiers with the blunt end of his weapon before spitting on them. "'I pledged my life for Verlaxion and all I got was this lousy concussion!'"

Wham! Remna punched a griffon in the beak and spun around, glaring. "Bombastic buffoon. The wyvern's tools!" She blocked another attack.

    "Harumph... I was getting to it." Logan upswung his axe, shattering a jabbing spear into metallic bits. Crasssh! He headbutted the pegasus to the deck and charged towards the open cabin. "We've got a boring-ass elevator ride ahead; I was getting my kicks."

    "Kick less, mortal." Remna backtrotted from a flurry of bladed attacks as sparks flew off her unnatural skin. "The Austraeoh's waiting on us."

    "Yeah, yeah." Logan untied the satchel, reached his teeth into the bag, and pulled at a burlap drawstring. "Nrnnngh..." There was a bubbling sound. The jars inside the satchel rattled... and a thick plume of smoke billowed out from the opening. "Whew-wee! Smells almost as bad as Blue's ranch!" He tossed the smoldering satchel down into the heart of the cabin as the air around them heated up exponentially. "Hey! Everypony down there might wanna plug your noses! And then your skulls!"

    Shrieks of surprise filled the air.

    Remna whistled shrilly into the air. The sarosians stopped circling. They swooped down in one accord. Galloping, Remna ran towards them.

    Logan joined her, shouldering his axe. "Time to make like a fart and flutter!"

    "Your silence would be appreciated."

    "Too late, scaley-cheeks!"

    As the two were briskly carried off, the recovering crew members aimed crossbows and fired a volley of arrows. Not long later—however—the smoke from below deck tripled. Engineers came galloping out, coughing and screaming. They hollered words of warning to their compatriots, but they fell on deaf ears.

    ...deaffened by the huge fireball erupting from the heart of the ship as Kepler's chemicals combusted completely. With a mutual shriek, the crew leapt overboard—just in time to avoid a violent chain reaction of tiny explosions that ripped the vessel apart from the inside out.

    Remna and Logan were carried east to safety...

    ...but the hovering forces of Rohbredden did not see them. Gathering around Keris and Starstorm, they could only gawk at the rising fireball east of Chandler's ship. It illuminated the sky with a blinding aura, forcing most of the griffons and pegasi to squint.

    "Verlaxion's sleet!"

    "By the Blight!"

    "Did you see that?!"

    "We... we only have one vessel now!"

    "We c-could be stranded out here!"

    "The Rogue! This is her doing!"

    Several glaring soldiers looked towards Keris. "What now, Commander?"

    "We've gathered like you said! We must engage!"

    Keris leaned into Starstorm's supporting limbs, breathing steadily. His eyes focused on the flame-lit waters of the rock formations below. "Over a dozen of our brothers and sisters are stuck in the surf down there. Chandler's ship can't get to them."

    "What are we to do?"

    "What else?" Keris pointed. "We must rescue them! Bring them to dry ground! Safe from the flames!"

    The soldiers exchanged glances, blinking.

    "But..."

    "Commander..."

    "The Rainbow Rogue...!"

    "She's getting away—!"

    "And if we lose any more of our numbers, we're useless against her Blighted forces!" He turned to face the guardians around him. "Don't worry! We shall engage the Rogue! But we need to rescue our comrades as well!"

    "Separate squadrons?" Starstorm suggested.

    Keris was already nodding. "Two companies! Head down to the shoals! Drag the crew members to safety!" He pointed. "The rest of you—get ready to join me in engaging the enemy!"

    "Aye, sir!"

    "On your mark, sir!"

    "Go!" Keris shouted, pointing at the two detachments that had swiftly formed. "Report to Chandler once you have finished the rescue!"

Sw-Sw-Sw-Swooosh! Over two dozen bodies dove towards the burning plume.

    Starstorm leaned in, whispering to Keris' ear. "We've got smaller numbers now. It won't be enough to overwhelm the Herald and their midnighter allies."

    Keris nodded. "That's the idea." Just then, two familiar shadows limply flew in from the west. Keris turned to face his subordinates. "Oh, hello. You're alive."

    "Mrmmmff..." Windburst sputtered, leaning weakly against Raptr's shoulder. "Love you too, Commander."

    Raptr gulped at the sight of the flame, then looked at Keris. "Did you succeed in intercepting Rainbow Dash?"

    "Yes." Keris nodded. "We talked. We're just about to charge her group head on."

    "We..." Raptr squinted. "... ... ...are on the same side, still, yes?"

    "Of course, Raptr." Keris leaned in close. "We're stretching the battle out long enough for Rainbow to make it to the Dark Side."

    "And... the Seventh Tribe?"

    "Ultimately—they're not our enemy. Right now, though, we have to keep our priorities straight."

    "And that is?"

    Keris looked at the rest of the Talon. He glanced east at the looming stormclouds where Rainbow's group was lying in wait. "... ... ...Windburst."

    Gathering his breath, Windburst shook off the pain of battle and hovered at attention. "Commander."

    "You're with me and the squadron here. The soldiers right now are answering to my commands, and I'm going to need your eyes to survey the situation. Starstorm? Raptr? You're both better off physically... which is why I need you two to do the more important task."

    Raptr leaned in. "Which is...?"

    "Seraphimus." Keris' glaring eyes crossed their faces. "Find her. Intercept her. Restrain her. Keep her as far away from the battle—far away from Rainbow Dash as long as as possible."

    Raptr and Starstorm exchanged nervous expressions.

    "And..." Starstorm cleared her throat. "...if we fail?"

    Keris exhaled. "Then—I fear—all might be lost." He gestured Windburst closer and hollered towards the troops: "Guardians of Rohbredden! Take wing!"

Sw-Sw-Sw-Swooosh!

    As the soldiers darted east for the stormclouds...

    ...Starstorm and Raptr hovered side by side, nervously eyeing each other.

    "Do you really think we can hold Seraphimus back?" the rookie stammered.

    Starstorm exhaled. "I'm not sure anything can at this point..."

SW-SWOOSH! Wildcard swung both nightsticks at Seraphimus' face.

    CLAKKKK! Seraphimus—bleeding in multiple places—blocked the bludgeons with her criss-crossing forelimbs. Snarling, she threw her weight into the former Talon member.

    Hissing beneath his breath, Wildcard threw her weight back into her.

    Pressed against each other, the two twirled and spiraled in a mid-air melee. The two skirted the ocean's surface, plowing through loose waves and sprays of water. Sp-Sp-Sploosh! With the next roll of thunder, they shoved against each other, lost contact, then threw their muscles inward once again.

    TH-THWUMPPP!

    "Grnnngh..." Seraphimus sneered. Gripping Wildcard's talons, she leaned in close to the side of his head. "I wept for you, Jordan." A flicker of lightning against dead charcoal. "But the time for weeping has ended." And she savagely bit into his crest-feathers.

    Wildcard's beak flew open—but he did not scream. Not even then. Raising his lower limbs, he wrestled for control of Seraphimus' weight. At last, he wrapped his legs around her midsection and—swooosh!—spun the two of them upside down. Angling his wings seaward, he descended the two of them until her body plowed into the ocean waves. Plumes of water fountained outward on either side as he dragged her body a hundred feet through the drink.

Splooooooooooooooosh!

    At last, she released her tight beakhold of his scalp.

    He exhaled for relief—only to suffer a gut-punch to the chest. WHUMP! His goggles rattled and he wheezed for breath, but he found the strength to lock the bars of his nightsticks around her wrist, holding her claws in place.

    After nearly twenty drowning seconds of having her head forced underwater, Seraphimus suddenly dug her wings into the depths. Her feathery limbs dragged at the watery friction, and the two jolted to an awkward stop.

    Wildcard's weight shifted eastward and Seraphimus capitalized on it.

    "Grkkgll!" Spitting salt water, she breached the surface—SPLOOSH—tossing Wildcard's body like a ragdoll.

    "!!!" Wildcard flailed through the thunderous air. Thwwwttt! He lost one nightstick from his grip. Panicking, he reached his metal arm out for it. Vrmmmmmmm—!

THUPP! Both of Seraphimus' claws gripped the length of Wildcard's prosthetic and twisted savagely. CRKKKK!

    Sparks flew as the magnetized core shorted out. Wildcard's goggles reflected one nighstick falling forever into the dark waters. WHUMP! Just then, a savage talon palmed his face—beak and all.

    "Raaaaaaaaaaaaaughhh—!" Screaming into the thunder, Seraphimus flew straight up, dangling Wildcard's body behind her. Within seconds, she had reached the stormclouds, and she dragggggggggggggggged Wildcard's writhing flesh against the western wall of a boiling anvil cloud.

    The Desperado grimaced, a few neckfeathers catching fire from the sheer friction of the magical, misty contact. As half his body burned raw from the contact, he grasped his remaining nightstick in his good talon and slammed... slammed... slammed it repeatedly against Seraphimus' ribcage. When the enraged griffon didn't even react, Wildcard calmly resorted to jabbing the narrow end of the bludgeon squarely into Seraphimus' armpit. WHUD!

Finally, Seraphimus lost her grip of the Job Squadder. Wildcard separated them further with a two-legged kick. Wham! Wheezing, Seraphimus twirled westward, flipping multiple times.

    Wildcard glided to a stop, wincing. He hovered before the thick, thick stormclouds—his silhouette highlighted against silver strobes of lightning. Taking every opportunity of the breathable moment, he brought a talon to his limp prosthetic and clicked open a hollow compartment. Schlunk!

    Seraphimus' voice echoed along the tresses of thunder: "Seems only fitting... that the cold irony of fate lost you to the Blight... as it did my family..."

    Trembling, Wildcard reached into his metal arm and produced a scrap of enchanted wyvern papyrus.

    The lightning dissipated, but the silver remained. It floated towards him, eyes glaring. Full of charcoal. "But at least I know they perished in innocence... and revereance. They will be ferried to the Spring Havens."

    Wildcard calmly rested his goggles on Seraphimus from afar. He breathed into the papyrus... and the Odrsjot symbol lit up with lavender brilliance.

    Seraphimus was hollering now: "For us! There will be! *No room!" And she flew towards him, talon first. *"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"**

    Wildcard stood his ground. He slapped the Odrsjot seal over the length of his nightstick, readied his upper body, and uppercutted Seraphimus viciously upon contact.

POWWW!

    The air lit up in a ruby splash.

    Seraphimus doubled back... recovered... then charged again.

    Wildcard slammed her over and over. POW! POWWW! Translucent phantoms of Odrsjot flickered between them and faded, but the Heraldite defender didn't let up. He punished each of Seraphimus' advances, rivaling the lightning—even when it blinded him.

    The air heated up. Wingfeathers curled on their ends. The seal's charge was dulling with each blow, and Wildcard knew it.

    Seraphimus didn't, but she also didn't care. At last—she threw herself completely into Wildcard's offense. Two talons reached toward, gripping the nightstick lengthwise. The residual harmonic energy of the seal burned Seraphimus' palms. She merely sneered into the steam: "Curse your damned Blight, Jordan." Tears. Lightning in her eyes. Like a pair of pallid gravestones. "I am the Right Talon of Verlaxion!!!" And she pulled both of her burning palms in opposite directions.

CRACKKK! Wildcard's nightstick snapped in two. The Odrsjot seal burst between them, and Seraphimus reached through the ashes, gripping the Desperado's neck with both bleeding talons. The plunge was already barreling them both eastward—so that the two tragic combatants plowed straight through the face of the stormcloud... losing themselves in the thunder and chaos broiling within.