Chapter 36: Red Flag

The smell of blood filled the air. The narrow street was now dominated by the dead.

"FIRE!"

A sudden loud screech drowned out the sound of the volley, as if the very air around the legionnaires was crying out in agony. Shining Armor knew that sound. In the past he would have described it as garish, loud and annoying. Right now, it sounded like the songs of angels.

An even louder boom caused Armor's bones to shake, and shattered every single window in a kilometre. Bright light of every colour nearly blinded the shaky formations. Three figures from above raced by, invisible to the troops below.

Pulling out of the dive into the skies above, Shadow felt his own bones rattling, as the speed and added weight of his armour made the already painful high G turn all the more worse. Soaring back upwards, the two wingponies he had picked up on the way down caught up to Storm, joining him in a chevron formation. Bringing his wing up, Storm banked heavily back around for another, targeted pass.

Now subsonic, but moving at extreme speeds still, Storm descended into the town below, as the blazing sun began to wane. The darkened streets below made the ESS soldiers an easy, red bullseye.

Flying directly into one of the platoons, Storm braced his hooves as they collided with multiple skulls and bodies, flinging two ponies out of the formation entirely, and causing the remainder to curl up in pain or hit the deck in fear. Pulling out of the attack run, Storm grinned, noting that the two young aircolts with him picked up on the theme, and attacked two of the other platoons.

"Shields down! FIRE!"

Shadow recognized Armor's command from below, and watched for a moment as their magic tore into the fractured ESS platoons, and the remaining two units. A swoosh from above forced Shadow's attention elsewhere, dodging and accelerating into an S turn. An ESS flyer overshot from above, slamming into the tiled streets with a sickening crack.

Bursting forward on his rapidly tiring wings, Storm caught up to one of the aircolts that had assisted on the run.

Screaming over the sound of wind passing by, Shadow ordered "Spread the word! We need concentrated support on the ground!"

"Yes sir!" the orange aircolt replied, breaking off and ascending into the sky.

Swinging around a burning tower, Storm came back around for a renewed assault on the platoons below. Pulling into an attack dive, Shadow's keen pegasus ears picked up a familiar horn in the distance.

Walker paced back and forth. She hated waiting, but she knew flying would only fatigue her and make her arrival marginally faster.

"Lieutenant!"

A young aircolt ran up, coming to attention.

"Speak," Walker replied simply.

"Ma'am, all wings have reported combat ready. 134 ponies."

"Good. Carry on." Walker's breathing quickened. She hoped that was enough. She wasn't a speaker or a leader in her mind. She never gave rousing speeches to rally the troops. She still questioned the validity of her being the one to even go to Cloudsdale.

"Prepare for jump!"

The sound was timely, welcomed and terrifying. Galloping to the edge Walker awaited the signal. Daring to lean forward, she stared into the depths below. The city was scorched by haze and smoke. Several fires had broken out, as far as she could tell, in the fleeting glimpses she had. Canterlot was almost entirely shrouded by the massive dogfight overhead.

Walker imagined what it must look like from below: 7 white cloudships, descending on the city like saviours. She prayed they did not disappoint.

"RED FLAG!"

Staring up at the aircolt on the adjacent ship holding his flag in the air, Walker waited. This was it.

"GREEN FLAG!"

Go time.