The Brothers Don't

"Sweet Celestia... is that us?"

Shining Armor turned from watching the unicorn pilots at work and addressed Spitfire. "Is what us?"

Spitfire beckoned him to the window. "Come here, look."

"You can see it from here as well, Sir," one of the pilots said, pointing through the windshield. "She's talking about the battle there."

Shining's stomach dropped. He took a step closer to the glass, standing in between the two pilots, to look at the ground far below.

"It is us!" Spitfire said. "Wow... I've never thought to look at it from so high up."

"There's a good reason for that!" Flash said loudly. He hadn't moved in nearly an hour. "There's no oxygen up here, you know. If we get some kind of puncture or anything in this machine, we'll all asphyxiate."

Spitfire rolled her eyes.

"Actually, there is enough oxygen to breathe, even up here," one of the pilots said.

Shining couldn't take his eyes away from the battle far below. "There are... so many soldiers," he said.

Spitfire nodded. "It looks like we're doing well. There's more color than black down there," she said. "Jeez, what are those things, Shining? Every time I see them, even from up here, I just... I can't even describe it."

"Macintosh put it well once, I remember," Shining said, tearing his eyes away from the battle. "Keep up the good work. Onward north," he said quickly to the pilots, then approached Spitfire and Macintosh at the smaller, circular windows. "What was it you said, Mac? Pieces of... er, something about shadows."

"Whispers o' living shadows," Macintosh said softly.

"But they're not shadows, really," Spitfire said, rubbing her eyes. "I get what you mean, they don't move like anything I've seen. Like liquid, almost. Liquid darkness."

"Reminds me of Sombra a bit," Shining Armor said. He made a face. "But... sharper, somehow. I don't know. Hard to explain."

"Very hard." Spitfire nodded and stared out the window. "Wow, we got to the fronts in less than an hour, Captain. At this rate, we'll be back to the Craters by Sundown."

"Even earlier than that," Shining said, then directed his voice at the pilots. "That is, if you two can manage that long?"

"We can fly till the Sun goes down, surely," said one of the pilots. "I don't know if we'll reach the Ice Dragon Craters. Never been there myself, obviously. But we'll get her as far north as we can and then land for the night someplace safe."

Shining nodded. "Sounds good enough for me."

"You look tired, Spitfire," one of the pilots yelled to her over his shoulder. "You can head down to the lower level and get some rest if you want. There are rows of cots down there, sleep anywhere you like."

Spitfire smiled. "You know, I think I'll take you up on that. I barely slept at all this week, making sure this thing got built."

"The hatch is in the back," said the pilot. "The stairs down are pretty steep. Watch yourself."

Spitfire saluted. "Anypony else?" she asked the group. "Flash? You might be more comfortable on a bed."

Flash got to his hooves shakily. "Yeah, okay. I'll follow you."

Shining chuckled and watched Flash Sentry wobble his way behind Spitfire to the back of the craft. What was he thinking, bringing that goofy pegasus along? One wrong passenger could jeopardize the entire mission.