Firefly found herself awake ahead of her alarm. Reaching over to switch the alarm clock off, she silently dressed herself, donning uniform, goggles, and harness. She then flopped back into her bunk, wings spread and hooves splayed. They were few, but Firefly enjoyed these little moments of respite before being dragged back into the cold sea of military routine. In the space between, with no action to keep her attention, Firefly’s mind began to wander.

Her right hoof twisted through a carefully practiced mnemonic motion, unlocking and deploying her knife. Without engaging the lock, Firefly began to twirl it about her hoof, the blade making a soft whirring noise as it circled around its track. A karambit, they’d called it. When she’d bought her first one, it was from a griffon street peddler in Beakbreak City just before the War. The curved blade with simple wooden grips was a harvesting tool, a symbol of the everypony who made their living through the sweat of their brow.

Though Firefly's knife bore a superficial resemblance to its bauble brethren, this blade was made for war. A full tang locked into the bracer at her wrist, a circular cutout allowed it to spin freely about its deployment mechanism. The sheath was composed of coated metal, its surface stippled for grip and stealth. The blade itself was stark black, its edge glinting with the unearthly sheen of adamantite. As the knife blade continued to slowly gyrate about her hoof, Firefly looked to the small picture frame on her foot locker.

The photo within was yellowed with age, the paper dulled and stained with sweat, dirt, and old gun grease. But in its protective casing it was easy to see what it held. Four pegasi stood on an ARC ship deck, their forelegs over each other’s shoulders, each grinning at the camera. It was still wartime in the photo – the empty shell casings near the ARC ship’s machine gun cupola, the flash burns and scarred paint on the deck, and the dirty manes and matted fur of the four pegasi were all evidence of that. But in that moment, forever frozen in time, they were together. They were happy...

...as happy as she was the day she’d been given her blade. A flick of Firefly’s wrist locked the knife open. Just like the ponies in the photograph, Powder’s birthday gift hadn’t aged a day since Firefly had received it. She stared hard at its glittering adamantite edge. Was this really all that was left of her? A gift that could only destroy?

“You awake, Fi?” came a hushed whisper from the hatch of the bunk room. Firefly quickly flicked the blade closed and rolled to view the hatch. As much as she would have preferred to roll the other direction and go back to sleep, she couldn’t leave company hanging.

“Yeah. Just woke up,” she said to Eastwind’s silhouette. “You weren’t going to sleep a bit longer? We don’t even have to be awake for another half-hour.”

“Just got back from the head,” Eastwind yawned. “I woke up before the alarm, so I figured I’d be productive instead of sleeping in.”

There was a brief pause. Though Firefly could hardly see her, she was sure that Eastwind was watching her. Finally, her wingmare spoke again. “You okay?”

“Yeah…” Firefly dragged the response. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well last night you—”

“Don’t worry about me, Windy,” Firefly cut her off. Gods bless her she’s persistent. Firefly gritted her teeth, but resisted the urge to lash out again. It was too early in the day to get into this. “I’ve got it under control.”

“It’s not about control, Fi.”

“We’re really going to have this argument again?”

“I’m not here to argue,” Eastwind said. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m here if you need me.”

Firefly took a deep breath. Lectures weren’t on her docket for the day anyway. She was glad that Eastwind felt the same.

“Besides, we haven’t spent proper time together in a while!” Hooves echoed on metal decking as Eastwind trotted into the bunk room, stopping next to Firefly’s bed. A smirk was clearly visible on her muzzle. “Gotta take what we can get, right?”

“C’mere, you!” Firefly snickered, sitting up and scooting over to make room on the bed. Eastwind took a seat next to Firefly, sliding up next to her wingmare. She turned her head to follow where Firefly had fixed her eyes. A faint smile crossed her lips as she caught glimpse of the photograph.

“Feels like that was taken forever ago,” Eastwind said. “I’m surprised your copy even survived the war.”

“Only halfway. If I take it out of the frame, the paper would probably evaporate.”

“I remember when we took that picture,” she said as she reached over to pick the photo up. “Zero Point took that shot after we retook Neighvarrone Battery in Ferrum.”

“Ugh, Zero,” Firefly spat. “She was a bitch.”

Eastwind raised an eyebrow. “I think you’re the only one who thinks that.”

“Only sparkmuzzle I know who saw fit to critique my ACM. Did she even go to flight school?”

It wasn’t that Firefly was antisocial. She was far from it. However, when ponies rubbed her the wrong way, they usually never came back. Eastwind, of course, being one of the few exceptions. To Firefly, being in the horseapples with somepony secured friendship much faster than having them lecture her via wireless.

“She did, actually,” Eastwind answered.

“How the hay do you know?”

“Because I, you know, talked to her?” Eastwind elbowed Firefly in jest. “Ponies will talk to you if you actually give them the time of day.”

“Or shake your ass at them,” Firefly sneered back.

“Classy, Fi. Real classy.” Eastwind snapped her tail at Firefly’s flank in admonishment. “But I’ll admit Zero did have a thing for me. Can’t say I was looking for another mare at that point, though.”

The two were quiet for a moment, only the sounds of Firefly’s ticking alarm clock and the faint clip-clops of distant hoof falls surrounding them. Eastwind broke the silence by pointing to the photo again. “Look at Sunburst. He only had half as many grey hairs!”

Firefly smirked. “And you look like a foal in Army uniform!”

“Hey! We were short on gear that early in the Ironheart Campaign! My flak vest was way oversized during the Neighvarrone fight — rode like a slobberknockered stallion!”

“Shuffled around up top and slapped your ass a bunch, but never satisfied you?”

“Exactly. The damn thing fit like a pillow case. Worst one-night stand in my life! I had to rub one out like crazy after that shit!” The two shared a good laugh, finally tapering off as both their eyes fell upon the young mare next to Firefly.

“Powder really grew up, didn’t she?” Eastwind said softly.

“Yeah...” came the muted reply.

“You did her good, Firefly. She learned a lot from you.”

“What did you expect?” Firefly shrugged as if it was nothing, but spoke quietly after. “We always had each other’s backs.”

Firefly shivered involuntarily. Eastwind probably couldn’t feel it, but it was cold... so cold. Sensing her friend’s discomfort, Eastwind leaned into Firefly, wrapping her forelegs around her neck and gently nuzzling her cheek.

“We still do, Fi – all of us. We’re in this together, remember?”

Firefly sighed and tried to relax, resting her head on Eastwind’s and closing her eyes. True warmth was something that she sorely missed. She nestled into Eastwind’s mane and finally relaxed. The respite, however, was short-lived. The ringing of an alarm clock in the adjacent bunk room interrupted their moment.

Eastwind let out an exasperated sigh and gave Firefly one last squeeze before sliding out of bed. “Forgot to turn off my alarm clock. I’ll see you on the flight deck, Firefly.”

It pained Firefly to separate. It took all she had not to leap after Eastwind and cling to her. Tense hooves dug into ruffled sheets and splayed feathers on twitching wings were barely fettered in time to stop them from launching Firefly from her bunk. Eastwind paused for a moment at the hatch, as if to acknowledge the tension. A quick glance over her shoulder, however, showed Firefly with her back turned, gently placing the photograph back in place on her footlocker. Her curiosity sated, Eastwind stepped out of the bunk room and made her way down the corridor.

As Eastwind’s hoofsteps faded away, Firefly gingerly cleaned face of the photo frame with her fetlock, wiping the remnants of her tears away.

It never took long for things to return to normal, as normal as things could be in a warzone. Barely twenty-four hours had passed since the Battle of Onyx and Firefly found herself victim of an old foe: routine. Schedules were the bread and butter of the Alliance. Every pony, dragon, areion, and griffon was assigned and allocated like the screws, springs, and cogs in a clockwork cornucopia of the utmost complexity. Among the endless cycles of military monotony was training. But with conditions on the Frontier as they were, there was no question as to why the admiral had decided to increase the frequency of drills and combat exercises.

Firefly lifted her head and looked out from her vantage point. Below her was a seemingly endless expanse of white. Like the geography near FOB Onyx, the ground was broken and rough, covered with powdery snow and icy pillars extruded through shattered stone, but it was nearly impossible to tell at this altitude. Firefly was far more interested in the cloudy “terrain” that marked the halfway point in altitude between her high perch above and the Wastes below.

The cloud formations were obviously artificial, carefully laid out in staggered lines and sheets that would be see-through from the side but nearly opaque from head-on. Firefly’s hooves idly dug into the cloud that she stood on. She’d long ago eschewed weather work, but it was something that no Pegasus was able to escape entirely. Basic combat training for fliers included courses on combat weather control skills.

Among the most important of those skills was the construction of storm barriers. While earth ponies and unicorns dug their trenches and filled their sandbags with hooves and shovels, pegasi used the sky itself to protect them. Storm barriers were the aerial equivalent of combat engineering obstacles, blocking radar and line of sight to ships hiding among them and presenting a hazard to combat fliers attempting to breach them.

“So tell me why I’m flying laps again? We already flew our way over here!” Thunderlane’s voice crackled through the airwaves.

“So Eastwind and Sunburst can set up the rest of the storm barriers! Keep it moving, rookie!”

“Aye, ma’am,” Thunderlane puffed.

A smirk crossed Firefly’s face. The first part of the exercise had been grilling Thunderlane on his weather skills, which thankfully were competent. She wasn’t being paid to watch a nugget butterhooves his way through the basics. A double-click on the radio indicated that Eastwind and Sunburst had finished their task.

Firefly leaped from her cloud, spinning into an aileron roll before snapping her wings open. Flipping on her right wing, Firefly banked and headed for the outer ring of the arena, demarcated by a series of large pillar clouds. Thunderlane could only be seen as a grey speck at the far side of the cloud arena, still circling under her instructions.

Drawing a bead on her target, Firefly banked again, rapidly flapping to accelerate as she closed on Thunderlane. Her hooves tapped both her harness switches. The high-pitched whine of Aether power cells charging was music to her ears. Since they were in adversarial training, Firefly had opted to kit herself out with an anti-personnel loadout: her trusty repeater backed up with a scattergun, a powerful shotgun-like repeater variant that traded range for firepower. The crosshairs of her reflector sight flared to life in her goggles.

“Uh. Commander? What are you—“

Firefly interrupted Thunderlane with a spray of repeater fire. His mouth fell agape and his body jerked away involuntarily. His hooves flailed as if scrambling for solid ground in the midst of the empty sky. As Firefly walked her rounds toward him, Thunderlane was finally able to muster the presence of mind to dive under the glowing blue tracers and avoid a world of pain.

Of course, Thunderlane was never in any true danger. The tracer colors were more than just a cosmetic change. They indicated that the Aether bolts being fired were nonlethal, doing little more than administering a mild electric shock to provide feedback to the target. It was, however, still quite unpleasant to be hit. Most fliers, Firefly included, likened it to being blindsided by an unruly stormcloud.

“What the hay was that?” he shouted.

“That was me missing on purpose!” Firefly sneered gleefully. “Training starts now, kid!”

“That’s not fair! I’ve been flying loops while you’ve been standing there all morning doing nothing!”

“There’s no such thing as fair, Thunderlane!” Firefly said as she pulled up alongside him. “We may have run the train on that trash at Onyx, but I can guarantee we won’t get that lucky again! In the next fight, you might be cold, tired, hungry, and wounded when the enemy decides to show up!”

Thunderlane stared at her dumbfounded. The look in his eyes pleaded for the plan to be little more than a cruel prank. But Firefly’s gaze was unrelenting. With slumped shoulders and a deep breath, Thunderlane accepted his fate. Firefly smiled and pulled away, barking instructions over the radio as she did.

“Sunburst, Eastwind. Keep the storm barriers moving; I’ll get to you after I’m through with the rookie. As for you,” she directed at Thunderlane, “You are now a target!”

“Guess I should be glad we’re using training rounds...” Thunderlane mumbled.

“Doesn’t matter. Out here in the arena you treat them like the real deal.” Firefly grinned ferally as she reached her side of the cloud arena. “Now show me what you’ve got! Don’t you dare hold back, Thunderlane, because I sure as hell won’t!”

The arena was set, the battle lines drawn. Now it was time to put her newest charge to the test. Firefly banked into a chandelle turn, trading speed for altitude as she climbed to a vantage point above the spotty cloud layer. Off in the distance, she could make out Thunderlane doing the same. The two closed the distance, preparing for a head-on pass. The glowing crosshairs of Firefly’s reflector gunsight floated in her field of view, holding steady as Thunderlane’s form drew hear. A tap of her harness switch superimposed a dashed circle over the crosshairs indicating the aimpoint of her scattergun.

Thunderlane was the first to fire. Burning blue tracers flashed towards Firefly, but she held her course. He was shooting from too far away. The rounds were off target, missing her by mere meters as they closed. Firefly gave a quick power flap and nosed down, picking up speed before popping back up with a quick burst of scattergun fire. Thunderlane dove to try and follow, but was caught off guard by Firefly’s feint. The fan of electric blue lances struck him in the face and chest, eliciting a cry of pain and shock. Firefly leveled off and took a peek at her handiwork. Thunderlane clawed at his face and spat muffled curses through the crackling arcs of training round splash. Firefly looped back around and pulled up alongside Thunderlane again.

“If that were for real, you’d be dead!” She said.

“Tell meeee somethiiiiing I on’t naw!” Thunderlane slurred through partially paralyzed lips.

Firefly continued her lesson as she circled him. “Now tell me what you did wrong there!”

It took a moment before Thunderlane could straighten his tongue enough to muster a response. “I didn’t shoot fast enough.”

“Wrong! You shot too soon. And that was just your first mistake.”

“Of course,” he sighed.

“Second mistake: you tried to follow me into a maneuver where I had the advantage. Don’t try to out-turn someone more maneuverable than you!”

“If I don’t follow them in, how do you expect me to shoot them down?”

“Don’t follow — lead,” Firefly chided him. “Combat is about forcing your opponent to break before you do. You can't do that from the back seat of the carriage!”

“Fleetfoot said that, too.”

“You obviously didn’t listen to her. Don’t react to what I’m doing; anticipate what I’m GOING to do! Use that head of yours! Now again!”

Firefly broke away and made for the far side of the arena. Thunderlane groaned and lined up for another pass on his side. With the arena reset, the joust began again.

Firefly saw a glint in the distance off Thunderlane’s goggles, which soon disappeared as he dove into the patchy clouds below. Good. He was willing to try something different. Firefly climbed and kept her eyes peeled for movement below. When she found none, she descended, circling the arena floor while searching for her opponent. Suddenly, below her, she saw a shadow moving. She acted immediately.

With a quick flick of her pinions, she slipped right, narrowly avoiding a scattergun burst and a spray of repeater fire. Thunderlane himself exploded from the clouds below an instant later, charging forward with sheathed combat knife at the ready. Firefly flared hard and threw her hooves to her right, sending her into a vertical flat spin right over Thunderlane’s head. Thunderlane barely had time to gawk at the maneuver before Firefly power flapped forward, launching herself onto Thunderlane from above. As Firefly slammed into him, she hooked one hoof around his neck as the other pressed a sheathed knife against his throat.

“Congratulations, kid. You’re dead!”

As they separated, Thunderlane blurted incredulously. “What the hell was that?”

“Academy would call it a chakra loop into a j-turn,” Firefly smirked as she bragged. “But I always called it the double-inside-out loop!”

Thunderlane raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because when you try to pull it off for the first time, it turns your insides out… twice.”

Thunderlane groaned and facehoofed both at the terrible pun and the reality of being bested yet again.

“Now what did you do wrong there?” Firefly prodded.

“Didn’t count on your supernatural reaction speed?”

“Nope,” Firefly said. “You can beat reflexes with positioning and planning, neither of which you did. You rushed your attack. You moved while I was actively searching for you, which gave your position away.”

“Gimme a break, Firefly!”

“Pirates aren’t going to give you a break! Neither will I! Not until you get it right! Now again!”

Thunderlane grunted, finally a hint of rage flashing in his eyes as he peeled off. Firefly grinned. Now came the true test. If Thunderlane could hold himself together after Firefly handed him defeat after defeat, he'd be golden. If not... then it would take some more work.

Again, the fliers separated, moving to opposite sides of the cloud arena. Again they dashed at each other, blasting past the cloud obstacles, preparing to clash again. As Thunderlane edged into gun range, however, he suddenly pulled up, shooting straight through a drifting barrier cloud above and continuing to climb far into the sky. Firefly flipped down her tinted lenses, searching for her opponent in the glare of the midday sun. While she was tempted to follow, she heeded her own prior advice. Firefly knew from sizing him up that Thunderlane could likely outclimb her, making vertical pursuit a fruitless endeavor.

She grunted in vexation as she realized Thunderlane was using the oldest trick in the book: attacking out of the Sun. Vision would be useless, so Firefly turned to her other senses. Her ears told her that he was diving, the jangling of gear and the rush of wind through feathers indicating that he was close. Firefly inverted, pointing her guns skyward and resting her hooves on the triggers. Her target neared.

Firefly squeezed the trigger, blasting off two scattergun shots and a burst of repeater fire at Thunderlane’s approaching form... only it wasn’t Thunderlane. Firefly squinted into the light, realizing too late that Thunderlane was already streaking away well out of gun range. In his place was a jet-black, arrowhead-shaped cloud crackling with electricity screaming toward her. Firefly juked hard left, avoiding direct impact, but not the miniature tempest that erupted from the cloud in a vicious airburst blast.

The arrowhead cloud exploded in a brilliant flash of lightning and a deafening peal of thunder, sending Firefly careening away, head spinning and vision blurry from the fierce concussion and blinding flash. Arcs of electricity leaped between her pinions and the sharp stench of ozone stung her nostrils. As she regained her bearings, Firefly saw the dim silhouette of Thunderlane lining up for another attack. She slewed her guns around and fired.

Thunderlane obviously took her prior lesson to heart. Instead of dodging horizontally or engaging in a head-on gunfight, he nosed up into a sharp climb, disappearing behind another storm barrier as Firefly’s aether bolts dissipated harmlessly into thin air. Firefly banked right and power flapped to accelerate. With his newfound missiles and his burly frame, Thunderlane had range and he had power. Firefly would have to force him into a close-range turning battle if she wanted to win.

Circling around the cloud, Firefly scanned the skies above. The sudden rush of wind drew her attention to a grey streak falling from the sky like a meteor. Thunderlane struck the storm barrier ahead like a lightning bolt, throwing up a peal of thunder that shook the entire sky. Firefly slipped right, keeping her guns pointed at the cloud, waiting for Thunderlane to emerge. She caught movement at the edge of the storm barrier and immediately fired.

Her shots only found unoccupied cloud. A fan of arrowhead clouds exploded out of the remnant of the storm barrier in response. Firefly snarled a curse as she flared hard, barely avoiding a collision with the lead cloud. Thunder and lightning burst all around her as their electric payloads detonated. Firefly snapped and weaved, slipping between arcs of forked lightning and weathering vicious blasts of thunder. Finally, she exited the roaring tempest.

Thunderlane was waiting for her. In the time it took for Firefly to level out, Thunderlane had slung yet another cloud at her. Firefly was stuck. She had bled off all her speed maneuvering through the first barrage, leaving none to dodge the next one. Firefly inverted and attempted a negative-G dive, but it was too late.

The arrowhead cloud exploded, buffeting her with thunderous concussion and immobilizing her with claws of lightning. As she tried to right herself, Firefly felt the jolt of training rounds splashing on her chest and neck, the unnerving sensation of electric shock making her hair stand on end and her skin prickle. It was like she’d suddenly been dunked in molasses. Firefly strained against her own body, but the sparkling blue arcs dancing over her coat and feathers numbed her limbs and slowed her reactions. Finally, two swift strikes to the gut from her opponent doubled her over in pain and sent her spiraling from the sky.

Firefly smashed through the first storm barrier with a boom of thunder. Its destruction did little to arrest her fall. She could feel the air shift beneath her as another cloud approached. Still numb, she could do nothing except brace herself for impact. Another thunderclap rang out across the arena as the next cloud loudly protested Firefly’s intrusion. The breath exploded from Firefly’s lungs as she slammed into the cloud’s surface, finally coming to dead stop. Her muscles screamed in agony. Her vision swam.

Gritting her teeth and quenching the pain with rage, she forced her limbs to move. Her guns were behind her, pointed in the wrong direction. With no options left, Firefly unlocked her knife and prepared to counterattack, only to find her knife arm pinned to the cloud behind her. As she struggled, she felt the rough, cold metal of a knife scabbard pressing against her throat.

The form of Thunderlane slowly resolved itself before her. He had mounted Firefly, pinning her body between his hind legs and immobilizing her knife foreleg with his own. Fire burned in his eyes, just visible through the glint of his combat goggles. He panted fiercely as he caught his breath, clearly winded from the contest. Firefly pushed her sun visor up with her one free hoof. Firefly expected him to let her go since the fight was clearly over, but when he didn’t for nearly a full minute, she prodded him.

“Thunderlane?” she finally said. “You can let go now.”

It took a moment for Thunderlane to register what she’d just said and a moment longer to realize their relative positions. When he did, he quickly lifted off with a flap of his wings. Finally free, Firefly rolled onto her hooves and stretched out, testing her joints from head to hoof after combat.

“Sorry,” Thunderlane said, ears drooping sheepishly. “I got caught up in the moment!”

Firefly laughed heartily. “I’ll say! You were a completely different animal during the third pass!”

“What else was I supposed to do? You were kicking my ass!”

“That was the point. If I didn’t you’d never learn,” Firefly said with a smirk. “By the way, where did you learn that cloud trick?”

“We called it a storm cutter back at home.” Thunderlane said as he shrugged. “It was an old trick we used to break up storm clouds that were too dangerous to handle by hoof.”

The flapping of wings above made both Firefly and Thunderlane turn their heads. Eastwind and Sunburst alighted on the cloud next to them, great big grins pasted across their faces.

“Not gonna lie, kid, that was pretty awesome,” Sunburst said.

“I see your weather skills haven’t fallen by the wayside,” said Eastwind.

Thunderlane’s cheeks reddened further. Firefly smirked, the hint of a smile giving way to laughter as Thunderlane finally regained his composure, puffing out his chest and donning his best winning smile.

“Don’t let it get to your head, rookie,” Firefly said, tapping a hoof on Thunderlane’s head. “We should get back to work. Time’s a wasting.”

Thunderlane snorted at Firefly’s joking admonition. “What’s next?”

“Reset and get ready for tandem drills,” Firefly said. “Sunburst, you’re with me. Thunderlane, you’re with Eastwind. Let’s get to it!”

“All right, everypony, take five. Wrap up in the cabin and hydrate.”

Firefly swiped beads of sweat from her brow with a fetlock as she trotted through the ARC ship hatch. Physical exertion and the glow of warm guns was a potent antidote to the arctic chill. The warm wash of air from the ARC ship’s interior was almost too warm in comparison, but Firefly quickly acclimated and relaxed as she felt the hoarfrost that clung to her coat and uniform melt and fall away. No words were spoken, but sighs of relief were heard all around. The clicks and clacks of latches and buttons being undone and weapons being stowed on their racks surrounded Firefly as she shed her gear momentarily.

“Heads up, jefa!” Firefly reached a hoof out without looking and caught the flying towel blanket thrown by Thunderlane.

Firefly burrowed deep into the folds of her blanket. One hoof remained clasped over the front to keep the warm air in while her other three were used to lope over to the galley bench, where she promptly sat. The others, similarly wrapped, gathered around the galley table. Canteens came out, tugged from combat harnesses under the blankets, quenching thirsty gullets with cold water. Sunburst paused to suck down air after his long swig of canteen.

“Hey Eastwind," he finally said, taking his fill of breath. "I think they put something in the Crystal Empire water!"

"How's that?" his wingmare asked.

"I feel young again!" He laughed as he slammed his canteen down on the table.

Eastwind stared blankly at him for a moment before her signature grin of mischief spread across her face. "Don’t worry, Sunshine, that’s just the cold making your balls pull back in. You'll be back to your wrinkly old ass in a few minutes!"

“Cold ain’t nothing, Windy,” Sunburst glowered. “They’re just tired of you busting them all the time!”

“Eastwind clip your wings again, old-timer?” Thunderlane chuckled.

“She’s just sore she can’t piss off the deck without embarrassing herself!”

“I bet I can piss straighter drunk than you can sober!” Eastwind shot back.

“You’re challenging me to a pissing contest?” Sunburst countered.

“I don't think we need one. I wouldn’t bite, Sunburst,” Thunderlane nickered. He waited a beat before delivering the punchline. “We already know Windy’s is bigger!”

“Thank you, Thunderlane, at least somepony here has a lick of —” Sunburst took a moment to catch on, but quickly snarled back. “HEY! Who’s side are you on, kid?!”

Eastwind's barely contained laughter erupted into full-on cackling. She rolled back in her seat, kicking her hind hooves out in glee. Firefly shook her head as Sunburst threw mock punches at Thunderlane, who raised his hooves to guard his face from his wingmate’s playful blows.

“Dear Celestia you guys are catty,” Firefly snorted. Despite her consternation, a slight smile played at her lips. "They put me in charge of a bunch of foals!"

"Hey, just havin' a little fun, jefa!" Thunderlane chuckled, batting the last of Sunburst's punches away. "Great way to unwind after hammering each other with training rounds and stormclouds, amiright?"

“More or less,” Firefly said. “We should probably make a distinction between who was doing what, seeing as only one of us was slinging stormclouds for the most part...”

“Eh, you didn’t do so bad yourself once you started practicing!”

“Don’t get too cocky, kid.” Firefly gave Thunderlane a sidelong glance, to which he responded with two hooves held up in a halting gesture.

“Looks like we all learned a bit of something out there today,” Eastwind said. “I'll be honest with you, Thundy, I never did much weather work at home. Cirrians always saw the art of cloudshaping to be separate from the art of war.”

"Didn't realize you did weather work before you shipped out," Sunburst said. "I figured you'd gone in right after school."

"Nah, I did plenty of weather work around Ponyville before I went to OCS," Thunderlane shrugged. "Mom always 'volunteered' me on days I wasn't at hoofball practice. Can you believe I wanted to go pro before I joined the Army?"

"No kidding! Who was your team? Trottingham United?"

"Pfffft! Hay no! Hoofington Club all the way! I actually got to shoot against their keeper Quickstep at hoofball camp when I was a colt!"

"She’s a cutie,” Sunburst chuckled.

“She’ll also lay you out faster than you can say ‘dat ass.’”

“Thunderlane, one of these days we’re going to have a guy’s night and I’ll show you how to really hook mares!” Sunburst glanced at Eastwind. “It’ll be a lot easier when I’m not constantly being cock blocked by SOMEPONY!”

“Not my fault the ladies prefer supple and lithe to old and wrinkly, Sunshine!” Eastwind teased with a wry smirk and a flick of her tail.

“I may be old and wrinkly up here, but I’m not down there!”

“Good Luna, back to this again?” Firefly rubbed a hoof against her forehead in exasperation.

“What about you, Firefly?” Thunderlane said, bringing the conversation back on topic. “You do much weather work? You seemed to catch on quick with the storm cutters!"

"It's something I'll keep filed away in case I need it." Firefly waved a hoof dismissively. "But combat weather control isn’t my preferred style. I like something more solid in my hooves. Give me a gun or blade any day of the week."

"I'd rather not, especially if I'm on the receiving end. I mean during that last few rounds, I lost track of how many takedowns you scored."

"I was always good with knives,” Firefly grinned. “I grew up in Fillydelphia, but my uncle used to take me camping all the time. He taught me how to use a knife both as a tool and a weapon. He always said he was just a garrison desk jockey, but from how he carried himself and how much he knew, I'd swear he was SOF."

"Sounds like a crusty old stallion I ran into in a bar in Trottingham one time..."

"The good ones always keep quiet. The bad ones are the ones that run their mouths."

"The good ones went home and lived off their fat pensions when they retired." Sunburst yawned before continuing. "If they were in the horseapples, they probably didn't miss active duty one bit."

"You probably won't even look back when you retire, will you Sunburst?" Thunderlane asked, giving his wingmate a nudge with his elbow.

“Are you kidding me? There's a lot of things I'll miss when they finally put me out to pasture!" Sunburst snorted. He ticked his hoof as if checking off items on a list. "Auntie Celestia covering my medical bills, royal coffers keeping alimony paid for greedy ex-wives, housing allowances, booze money, yadda yadda..."

"So we're living the good life?"

"Damn right we are. Only things that are still a pain in the flank are awards ceremonies and stop-loss."

“You got stop-loss’d?”

“War started two months before I was supposed to get out. Now look where I am!”

“Stuck with us?” Eastwind said.

“No, Windy, just stuck with you,” Sunburst replied with narrowed eyes. He quickly opened them and grinned as he addressed the others seated at the table. “The rest of you aren’t too bad!”

“Walkin’ on thin clouds there, Sunshine,” Firefly said with a sidelong glance. “That said, sometimes I think I’d rather be stop-loss’d than thrown into another damn formal. They lay the pageantry on so thick it makes me gag.”

“I thought they were supposed to be fun?”

“Tsch,” Firefly snorted in contempt. “Anything involving top brass is unfun by definition. They should just mail us the medals and give us each a sack of bits to spend on booze, smokes, and mares — or stallions I guess, depending on your persuasion.”

“Now that’s my idea of a good time!” Sunburst laughed.

“Who wouldn’t want to get their medals, though?” Thunderlane cocked his head to the side quizzically. “I thought it was a great honor to be pinned by the Princesses.”

Firefly’s face darkened for a split second, not enough to betray her thoughts, but long enough to cast dis-ease on all seated at the table. Medals were for heroes. Medals were for noble achievements. Medals weren't awarded for what she did.

“Uh, Firefly?”

“Not everypony can be a rock star, kid,” Firefly said flatly. “Straight military is different from Wonderbolt Academy. REA Air Corps may poach ‘bolt recruits for their skills, but they don’t keep many because of their attitudes. Turnover rates used to be insane.”

“Still are,” Thunderlane said quietly.

“I see things haven’t changed much since I was last in Heartland Equestria.”

A banging on the bulkhead brought Firefly’s attention to the goggled earth pony stepping out of the radio bay. “Commander, sorry to interrupt, but I’ve got radar contacts coming in.”

Firefly stood, dropping her blanket and trotting to the hatch. The radar console beeped a steady warning of approaching fliers. The squad piled around the display.

"What've we got, chief?" Firefly said.

"Four bogies, about twelve klicks out,” the ARC operator said, pointing to the cathode-ray display. “Size looks like combat fliers, but I don't see an accompanying ARC ship."

"IFF tone?"

"None, ma'am."

"Suit up,” Firefly said over her shoulder to her squad. “We're going to have to get ident the hard way."

"Uh, we're running training hardware, jefa."

"If they're just scouting, they won't be looking for a fight. We just point guns at them and they'll cut and run."

“And if they stay to fight?” Sunburst said with narrowed eyes.

Firefly’s only reply was to deploy her knife, holding it ominously in front of her face before stowing it again. “Let’s go Timberwolves.”

The squad filed through the galley to the ready bay, re-attaching weapons and sliding goggles, flight caps, and radio equipment back into place. Firefly hoofed open the hatch and leaped onto the ARC ship deck. Following immediately behind the fliers, a goggled and helmeted earth pony scrambled out of the cabin hatch and leaped into the gun cupola. With a loud metallic CLICK-CLACK, the heavy repeater was charged. The gunner slewed his weapon to the starboard side and leveled it at the heading of the possible targets.

“Contacts approaching; constant bearing, decreasing range.”

“CBDR,” Eastwind remarked with furrowed brow. “They have to know we’re here.”

“Timberwolves, you are cleared to launch. Wedge formation, right heavy, on me! Keep high and we’ll give them the drop when we get close. Understood?”

“Aye, ma’am,” Thunderlane affirmed.

The Timberwolves leaped off the deck, dipping down to gain speed before nosing up to ascend. The storm barriers fell away beneath them. Firefly squinted into the distance. Several thousand meters out, cruising closer to the ground, were four unidentifiable forms approaching their position.

“Unidentified fliers, you are entering Alliance airspace.” Storm Warden broadcasted as the Timberwolves closed in. “Identify yourselves and state your intentions.”

A long pause followed the hail. No response. Are they really going to try to rush us? Firefly thought. Her hoof twitched on the trigger of her knife.

“Unidentified fliers, you are entering Alliance airspace.” The ARC operator repeated. “Identify yourselves and state your intentions or we will open fire!”

“This is ACG Alpha Team ‘Typhon’ returning from mission near the Outer Rim. We were running dark to avoid detection by enemy sensors. Activating IFF transponder now.”

The pulses of an identity code, thrumming like a beating heart, chirped faintly in Firefly’s headset. Muted murmurs could be heard coming from the ARC ship’s crew. Finally, a verdict came.

“Codes check out. It’s them.”

“Stand down, Timberwolves. We’ve got friendlies coming in. Let’s roll out the welcome wagon.” Firefly waved a hoof, placing her squad at ease. She keyed her headset, broadcasting on open channel. “Is that you, Roshina?”

“Ah, Firefly,” replied the familiar voice. “Aren’t you glad you don’t have to fly out to kill us? We could have been griffon pirate scum instead of friendly magic dragons!”

The Timberwolves descended from their vantage point, closing the gap with the dragon squad approaching from below. Finally, they were close enough to speak face to face. Each squad slowed to a hover and formed a rank with their counterparts directly opposite.

“Not like we’d have been able to do anything,” Firefly chuckled, speaking off mic. “Training gear doesn’t exactly cook turkey like real steel.”

“It would be quite concerning if it did!” Roshina laughed. “Good to be in friendly company again!

“And even better luck,” the dragoness flourished, “You finally get to meet the rest of my squad, Firefly. This is Grana and Zaan. And of course, you already know Khog...”

Firefly’s eyes darted from dragon to dragon as Roshina introduced them.

Grana, the purple one. She was not much bigger than Roshina herself, but her armor configuration – ample protection of her hands and torso made obvious her brawler sensitivities. Firefly could feel Grana’s eyes upon her. They jumped from pony to pony, sizing them up and passing judgment as they went.

Zaan, the green one. He was big, even more so than Khog. Zaan wore no armor save for his combat harness. Muscles rippled beneath his scales and a cold rage smoldered behind his eyes. Unlike Grana’s pedantic scanning, Zaan’s slewing vision was lazy, barely acknowledging their presence, except perhaps that of Firefly, the leader.

Khog, the red one. Firefly already knew Khog, but after the encounters in the Horseshoe and the Majestic’s galley, he seemed to treat her differently. The haughtiness and pride still remained in his eyes, but they took a backseat to the guarded deference that Roshina’s tales had wrought after their second meeting.

“So how long until you’re off, Firefly?” Roshina continued. “It would be most excellent to have some company for mess tonight!”

“Two hours maybe,” Firefly replied. “We were getting ready to wrap up the last set of tandem drills.”

Roshina looked thoughtful for a moment. “Mind if we join you? We had no action while we were out and have been itching to really stretch our wings. Dragons were meant to fight, not hang up listening post balloons!”

“What are you getting at?”

“What do you say to a scrimmage?” There was a twinkle in the dragoness’ eye. “Just a bit of friendly competition since we’re not due back to the ship for another few hours?”

“What do you say, fillies and colts?” Firefly asked, turning to her squad.

“I’m game,” Thunderlane said.

“Sure, why not,” said Eastwind.

“You’d kick my wrinkly ass if I said no.” Sunburst replied.

“You’re on,” Firefly said to Roshina. “What’s your poison? Guns or melee?”

“Rules of the game: No ARC ship callouts, but you’re free to communicate with your squad.” Roshina ticked off each stipulation with a clawed finger. “Action is full-contact, but no guns and no dragonfire. Anything else nonlethal goes! You get hit hard or someone puts you in a lock hold, you tap out. Agreed?”

“Agreed. Timberwolf and Typhon, go to squad subchannels. Storm Warden, did you get that?”

“Got it loud and clear, ma’am,” the ARC operator replied.

“Good. Get ready to count us off. Call kills when you see them. See you in the arena, Typhon One. Good luck!”

“Likewise.”

Firefly clicked the dials on her radio, shifting its output to a subchannel that would give Timberwolf flight some privacy. “Go to secure channel, Timberwolves.”

“They volunteered to go melee only?” Thunderlane asked. “Doesn’t this make it a cakewalk for us?”

“She didn’t say melee-only,” Firefly said. “She said no dragonfire and no guns. Feel free to use all the storm cutters you want, Thunderlane, but watch out for magic missiles.”

“Going melee against a dragon is nothing to piss on either,” said Sunburst. “There’s a reason no one bucks with ACG...”

“Stay focused,” Firefly chided Sunburst. “Hit hard and fast and always keep your wingmate in sight. Got it?”

“Aye, ma’am,” came the chorus of replies.

“Typhon and Timberwolf. This is Storm Warden. Report to ready positions. You are cleared to engage on my mark.”

The Timberwolves flew an ascending spiral until they’d reached middling altitude on their end of the arena. Far off in the distance, the four dragons of Typhon flight could be seen darting among the clouds. Firefly squinted to try and resolve them further, but the constantly shifting sky and slippery dragon targets clouded her scrutiny. She issued the halt gesture, bringing her squad to a hover at altitude.

“Timberwolves ready,” Firefly reported.

“Typhon unit stands ready,” came the pass-through from Roshina.

“Teams are ready. Starting the countdown,” the ARC operator announced. “Five. Four. Three. Two. One.”

Firefly took a deep breath and closed her eyes. All of the sounds around her slowly faded away; the high-altitude wind, the hiss of radio static, the murmuring chatter of ARC operators in the background. She was ready.

“Mark.”

Firefly shot forward with wingmates in tow. As they closed on the center of the cloud arena, she began barking orders. “Thunderlane, go with Eastwind and take high. Sunburst, you’re with me. We’ll take low. We’ll draw them in then pincer them from above!”

The formation split in half, with each flier doing as they were instructed. Firefly breathed deeply as she dove. Cold air coursed through her lungs, sending an electric jolt through her senses. The sky was her domain. In this domain, she was princess; she was judge, jury, and sole executor of law. This was her sky and she would defend it as such. The glint of metallic hardware caught Firefly’s eye at the same time it did Sunburst’s.

“Tally three dragons,” Sunburst reported, “but where’s the last one?”

“Roshina’s not in that formation...” Thunderlane confirmed.

“Of course not,” Firefly said. “She’s the caster, so she’ll support from range. Keep your head on a swivel and your eyes peeled!”

A familiar unearthly howl broke from the cloud sea below. Firefly craned her neck, searching for the telltale trail of glowing aether that would betray a magic missile. Firefly growled at the sight of a glowing trail behind her.

“We’re spiked! Break!”

A thin mantle of condensation coalesced around Firefly’s shoulders and wisps of cloud trailed from her wingtips as she flared hard, violently braking and pulling right. The bone-chilling wail intensified as the missile closed, filling her head and shaking her bones until she thought her eardrums would burst. Firefly only bit her tongue and maintained the turn.

In an instant, the wail stopped. A quick glance to her left showed what was left of the missile dissolving into a shower of sparks. A clean miss! Firefly leveled out and swung back left toward Sunburst. Where was Sunburst? The sharp crack of a missile exploding nearby assaulted her ears. Firefly instinctively shaded her eyes with a hoof at the sudden flash of light.

“I’m hit!”

“Typhon One, first blood,” the ARC operator confirmed. “Wolf Three, you’ve just been killed.”

“Tell me something I don’t know!” Sunburst snarled. “Firefly, I’m headed back to the ARC ship. Give ‘em hell!”

Firefly growled in frustration. That answered her question. She swiveled her head around, scanning the cloud sea for her quarry. Dragons normally weren’t the type to hide, but Roshina had shattered all of Firefly’s prior assumptions. Firefly banked left and nosed up to gain altitude.

“I see movement, jefa!” Thunderlane reported. “About two hundred meters to your eleven o’clock, low!”

Firefly scanned the clouds. Indeed, there was a shadow moving in the indicated direction. But as Firefly was about to dive in pursuit, the shadow darted away.

“We can’t get her right now, Thunderlane. Focus on the others.”

“What’s the plan, Firefly?” Eastwind said.

“I’m on point. Watch for an opening and hit ‘em when they come after me!”

Firefly drew a bead on the still-approaching wedge-shaped formation of three dragons and powered toward them. Acknowledging her presence, the formation fanned out. It was Grana who held her course, continuing in a head-on attack against Firefly. Just as they seemed fit to collide, Firefly deftly slipped right while turning on wingtip, staying just out of reach of the dragon’s claws.

“Eastwind, hasty ambush on me! Get ready!”

“Roger that,” came the reply. “Cloud to your one o’clock, high!”

Grana circled around for another pass, her bared teeth and open claws betraying her expectation of an easy kill. Firefly subtly smirked. She climbed and pulled hard right, sending her streaking over the cloud. Grana tracked Firefly’s movement, lining up for a knockout blow.

“Now!”

At Firefly’s command, Eastwind sprang from the cloud, clotheslining the dragoness with her foreleg. A strangled curse gurgled from Grana’s throat as she was violently ripped from her flight path. A quick power flap from Eastwind worked the clothesline into a suplex, slamming Grana into the cloud below with a raucous peal of thunder. Eastwind flipped her sheathed blade out, indulging in a quick flourish before pressing it to Grana’s throat.

“Timberwolf Two, splash one bandit,” she reported smugly.

“Confirmed,” came the ARC operator’s voice. “Grana, Typhon Three, you’ve just been killed.”

Grana rasped a curse in draconic before slinking off to the ship. Firefly grinned like a madmare as she watched her wingmate’s handiwork. The odds were even once again.

“Good kill!”

“Felt good, too!” Eastwind panted. “What’s next?”

“Two bandits coming up from behind!”

“Eastwind, break left!”

Firefly and Eastwind split. Khog and Zaan shot between them from below, both climbing to gain the altitude advantage. Firefly banked hard and climbed after them to present herself as a target. Zaan took the bait and dove after her.

The strike of hooves on hard scale rang across the sky as Eastwind made her first pass. Zaan, however, was unfazed. Firefly grunted and whirled around, braking with her wings and reversing direction to launch her attack. Her hooves slammed into Zaan’s face and chest, each impact sounding a dull thud. Firefly gritted her teeth. It was like punching sandbags! As if to drive home the point, Zaan caught her hoof in one hand and countered with the other.

CRUNCH. Firefly’s flak armor disintegrated at the impact of Zaan’s bone-shattering strike. Her entire body felt the hit. Her head snapped forward. Her lungs vomited their load of breath. She wheezed desperately as Zaan’s fantastic strength sent her careening away.

“Don’t stick around!” Firefly rasped into the radio. “He may be slow, but he hits like a freight train!”

“I got this, Fi!” Eastwind said as she circled for another pass.

Firefly’s wingmare screeched a wild battle cry as she assaulted Zaan again. This time, however, Zaan was ready. He raised his fists to block, enduring the onslaught of Eastwind’s lightning fast hooves. When she backed off to look for another opening, he retaliated with a single aimed strike that flipped Eastwind head over hooves. A single massive claw clasped itself around her neck.

“Windy!” Firefly power-flapped forward Zaan, slamming into him at breakneck speed.

It was like flying into a brick wall. Firefly glanced off, launching her far off-course. Zaan did not so much as flinch. Firefly could only watch helplessly as Eastwind struggled against her assailant. Finally, she fell short of breath and tapped out. The brute cracked a predatory smile and released her.

“Typhon Four, Zaan, splash one,” the ARC operator reported. “Wolf Two, you’ve just been killed.”

“Ugh, my head,” Eastwind groaned as she departed the battlefield.

Firefly looped back around, looking for any way to attack the juggernaut without suffering Eastwind’s fate. She expected him to give chase, but Zaan made no efforts to pursue. He was waiting. His red eyes glowed with anticipation. His arms were braced in front of him defensively. Firefly would never be able to break through his guard alone.

Suddenly, she had an idea. “Thunderlane, disengage Khog and grab a storm cutter!”

“Do what now?” In the distance, Firefly could make out Thunderlane trading blows with Khog.

“Just do it!”

“Coming back around!” Thunderlane kicked off his adversary, disappearing through a storm barrier and making his way toward Firefly. “What’s the plan, boss?

“I’ll get his attention, Thunderlane. You go in for the kill!” Firefly snatched a bit of cloud off a nearby storm barrier as she continued to circle Zaan. Finally, she tucked her wings and dove upon him. “Over here, asshole!”

Firefly grinned as she approached. She spun the cloud in her hooves, making it crackle with electricity. She whirled it around herself, making motions to strike. The dragon put his fists up to block, clearly intending to counter Firefly’s blow. But she stopped just short. A quick slap to the cloud with the tip of her hoof detonated it in a flash of lightning and a peal of thunder. Zaan dropped his guard as he coughed and sputtered, shaking his head violently in an attempt to get the horrid ozone taste out of his mouth.

“Thunderlane, do it!”

On cue, Thunderlane’s storm cutter shot into the back of Zaan’s head with the precision of a sniper’s bullet. For a few seconds, Zaan went limp, kept aloft only by his outstretched wings. Firefly and Thunderlane quickly descended upon him, catching him and laying him out on the nearest cloud. Thunderlane quickly tapped him on the back of his neck with his knife.

“Bandit down,” she radioed.

“Zaan, Typhon Four, you’ve been killed.”

The green dragon sat straight up at the announcement. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the two pegasi standing on the cloud. His fists clenched and his neck tensed, as if he were ready to deliver further blows. Firefly even reached for her knife in case Zaan went out of control. However, Zaan was fully aware of his defeat. With one last glare, he spread his wings and lifted off.

“Well that was tail-stainingly terrifying...” Thunderlane cracked.

“Next time I’ll bring a ballistic lance,” Firefly said flatly. “Two more to go, rookie!”

As if on cue, Khog tore through the space between them, splintering the cloud they stood on. Firefly recovered from her tumble, quickly drawing a bead and launching herself after Khog. The red dragon’s lean musculature propelled him at high speed, making Firefly work to catch up. With a flick of his wings and tail, Khog spun back around, diving back toward Firefly.

Bared teeth and razor claw descended upon Firefly. She roared in contest, answering Khog’s ferocity with her won; claws clashed against blade, fists against hooves, forelegs against scale. Khog was fast, but more seriously, he was experienced. One strike blurred into another, giving Firefly no chance to retaliate.

“Thunderlane, where the hell are you?”

“I got this, jefa!” Came the enthused reply. “Here it comes!”

The distinctive crackle of lightning sounded behind Khog as Thunderlane delivered his storm cutter payload. Khog, however, had heard it just as well as Firefly. Without missing a beat, the red dragon whirled around, simultaneously hammering Firefly’s guard with his tail and intercepting the cloud with a back-hand strike. The storm cutter spun away and detonated harmlessly.

Firefly growled as she soaked up another hit with her forelegs. “Change of plans, Thunderlane!”

“Your go, boss.”

With a pained grunt and a mumbled curse, Firefly struck a quick one-two punch against Khog’s guard, using his defensive posture as a springboard to launch herself away. A nearby storm barrier served to break line of sight. As she exited the cloud, she peeled off a strip, rolling it in her hooves until it resembled a hoofball made of storm clouds.

“Heads up, Thunderlane! Cloudball special!”

“Just like when I was a colt!”

“Passing to you!” Firefly popped up above the storm barrier, sighting in on Thunderlane and Khog. With a flap and a twirl of her wings, Firefly gave the balled up cloud a mighty buck. The stormcloud shot away on wings of lightning. Thunderlane maneuvered to receive, streaking right past Khog as he did.

“It’s the last five minutes on the pitch in the Equestria Cup finals as bitter rivals Trottingham united and Hoofington Club face off in a true clash of the titans!”

Thunderlane pretended to dribble the cloud in front of him as he did his best impression of a hoofball announcer. “Hoofington makes a final drive for the goal!”

Khog snarled and swung. As if calling out player actions as an announcer, Thunderlane gracefully spun away from Khog’s claws. “The defenders close, but he’s one step ahead! He jukes, he weaves, he slips right through their hooves!”

Every attack was matched with ducking and weaving. “He lines up for a shot! But it’s a feint! He passes!”

Thunderlane lobbed the stormcloud past Khog, immediately drawing the latter’s attention. Firefly received the pass and immediately shot. As she righted herself, she grinned at the results.

“His wingmate shoots!”

Khog lunged at Thunderlane, thinking the Pegasus had missed his shot on accident. Thunderlane slipped backwards to avoid the strike. Realizing that he was overextended, Khog attempted to correct his mistake, whirling back around to face Firefly.

“And with a brilliant kick by our star, it’s in!”

The cloudball caught Khog with his guard down, striking him right on the muzzle. A crash of thunder and flash of lightning drew a roar from the deafened and blinded warrior dragon. Finishing the job, Firefly yanked Khog into a lock hold, pressing the sheathed knife to his neck.

“GOOOOAAAAAAALLLLL!!!!!” Thunderlane celebrated.

“Splash one,” Firefly growled in Khog’s ear.

“Khog, Typhon Two, you’ve just been killed.”

Khog glared at Thunderlane, then shoved Firefly away as she released her grip. “You were lucky, little pony... this time.”

“I was a little more than that—WHOA!” Thunderlane spun away at the last second, narrowly avoiding a ghostly javelin.

“Two o’clock low! It’s Roshina! Move it, rookie!”

More magic missiles rose to greet them. Firefly twisted and weaved, ducked and dodged, dancing her way through the flying breastworks that blocked her way. Through it all, Firefly could not help but grin. This was her element. Combat flying used all her senses and every bit of her body... and she loved it. Finally, they broke through the barrage.

“Break left and circle around, Thunderlane! Keep the pressure on!”

Firefly powered forward and dove to pick up speed, skimming the cloud surface before abruptly popping up and charging at Roshina. Now too close for missiles, Roshina bared her fists in fighting stance. Firefly lunged, her hooves crashing against Roshina’s bracers. With a knee strike to Firefly’s stomach and a whirling tail slap to her face, Roshina sent Firefly spinning away.

As Firefly gathered herself for another pass, Thunderlane took his turn. The ring of clouds surrounding him splintered at his touch. Each cloud blob morphed into the characteristic arrowhead of his storm cutters.

CRACK-BOOM. CRACK-BOOM. CRACK-BOOM.

Thunderlane delivered his vengeance with extreme prejudice. Firefly shielded her eyes with a hoof to block out the piercing flashes of blue lightning. One cutter after another exploded, leaving a blanket of heavy mist rife with the stench of ozone. For a moment, the battlefield was still.

But in a swirling storm of mist, Roshina burst from the remains of the tempest, an aetheric javelin in one hand and a gleaming magic shield in the other. The shield vanished in a shower of sparks and the javelin leaped from her hand with a point of her finger, streaking toward Thunderlane.

With a flip of his wings, Thunderlane flung one last storm cutter, intercepting the missile and clearing his path. He snapped his wings shut and dropped upon his quarry like a bird of prey. Chain lightning snaked across his hooves, arcing all around him as he prepared to strike.

Seeing her opening, Firefly charged in from behind. Her first punch landed at the base of Roshina’s spine. Firefly grinned as a cry of pain escaped her quarry. She leaped forward and upward, hooking a hoof around Roshina and initiating a lock hold. But just as she touched Roshina’s scales, Firefly felt a hard tug on her tail.

Firefly’s breath caught in her throat as she was violently pulled downward. Glancing below, she found her tail caught by Roshina’s own. There was no time to gawk, however, as she was whirled around underneath the dragoness. In a split second, her unspoken plan was undone. There was not enough room for Thunderlane to stop. There was not enough time for Firefly to break free. Firefly could only brace herself for impact.

Firefly could feel the wind explode from Thunderlane’s lungs as she slammed into him. Her skin tingled and her feathers frayed as the attack meant for Roshina racked her with arcing electricity. The two pegasi tumbled away, stunned and spiraling out of control.

Azure eyes snapped open. Firefly forced herself to focus. She had to retake the initiative or she didn’t stand a chance against Roshina. Firefly splayed her wings to brake and regain control. But as she turned back to face Roshina, she found herself staring straight down the point of a magic missile. The dragoness looked Firefly dead in the eye and prepared to fire.

With a flick of her wrist, Firefly’s knife came out, its blade gleaming in the afternoon sun. Her aetherium-cored blade could cut the missile down, but her timing would have to be perfect. One slip and it was game over. Her knife foreleg tensed. With a flash of unearthly light, the missile leaped from Roshina’s talon. Firefly swung.

She found herself lunging into empty air. The missile sailed past her. It took a moment before Firefly registered what was happening. She had been so absorbed in preparing to block the attack that she’d failed to anticipate the feint. Before Firefly could warn Thunderlane, the missile exploded, engulfing him in a bright flash of light and a thunderous boom.

“Dammit!” Firefly cursed her own lapse of awareness. Roshina flashed a knowing glance and peeled off, disappearing through a nearby storm barrier cloud.

“Sorry jefa! Guess I didn’t make the cut!”

“Thunderlane, Wolf Four, you’ve just been killed,” the ARC operator reported. “Firefly, Roshina. You’re the last ones left.”

Firefly burned inside. She’d been played. She’d fallen straight into Roshina’s trap. How could I have been so stupid?

“Looks like it is just us, Firefly!” Roshina’s voice crackled in Firefly’s earpiece.

Open channel? What was she doing? Firefly kept a wary eye on Roshina’s distant form as the gears in her head turned. Roshina is a strategist, not a duelist. Or had Firefly misjudged her yet again?

“I’ve been waiting for a chance to see you in action!” The dragoness continued as she reappeared some distance away from behind a storm barrier. “Now I finally have it!”

“You already saw me in action at Onyx,” Firefly said, keeping her distance. “What makes this so different?”

“We fought against neophytes and scum at Onyx. I would hardly call that a real fight!”

“A fight is a fight, Roshina! Makes no difference who’s slinging lead, aether, or dragonfire!”

“Onyx was an unfortunate altercation. THIS is a fight!”

Shining points of light flared to life in a brilliant halo around Roshina’s streamlined form. Firefly tensed. More missiles. Firefly dove into the nearest storm barrier, gathering up bits of thundercloud and shaping it into a dome-shaped barrier around her.

The unearthly howl of incoming magic missiles rang in her ears as the points of light resolved themselves into glowing aetheric javelins. A flick of Firefly’s hooves set the storm shield spinning. The cloud darkened as it spun faster, its surface crackling with electricity.

Firefly shifted the dome to meet each incoming missile, feeling the sharp jolt of exploding aether as each ghostly javelin splashed against her electric shield. With the last missile blocked, Firefly jammed her hooves forward and flung them apart, dispelling the cloud and giving her room to climb.

“Think about it! Two opponents of great skill, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, each vying for the upper hand! It’s a rush unlike any other!”

She was right, more or less. Firefly relished competition. She’d lived for it in OCS, much to the chagrin of her classmates. But why would she even say that?

“What’s with the flattery? Would you have said that to Colonel Savage with Manticore flight?”

“Never!” Roshina chuckled. “In fact, I consider this opportunity the greatest of honors, Firefly!”

“Honors?”

“To go up against someone with your impressive accomplishments!”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Don’t be so bashful about your victories, Demon of Valdus!”

There was the rub. Firefly bared her teeth and dove upon her opponent like a bolt of lightning. Roshina barely managed to parry her strike, visibly recoiling as Firefly’s hooves connected with dragonscale.

"Can’t you take a hint?” Firefly growled. “I buried the demon years ago. Why do you want to bring her back?"

“So that I might test myself against her! I studied the art of war in Pyre. I read the after action reports. I wrote treatises on the tactics and theory of the Continental War!” Even amidst the melee, Roshina still found breath to pontificate. “It is through our heroes that we learn to improve ourselves. The Heroes of Valdus are perhaps the greatest ones of our time!”

“The ‘Heroes of Valdus’ are dead!”

Firefly lashed out with word and blade. A whirling mass of feathers and hooves masked the blackened edge of a sheathed blade. Faster and faster the knife blade spun in its wild dervish dance. Roshina treated the sheathed knife as the real thing, slipping backwards to avoid strikes too powerful to safely block.

“And yet you lived! You stopped the griffon counterattack during the spearhead! Any warrior would be proud of that accomplishment!”

“Accomplishment? We failed!”

“The Alliance won! They pushed the Aquellian National Army out of Valdus! How was that a failure?”

As the onslaught continued, it was clear that Roshina was losing ground. The blade whirled in a quick figure eight before plunging forward. Roshina slipped to the side to avoid it, realizing she’d be unable to block.

It was a feint. Firefly quickly retracted the blade and spun her body around, delivering a wheel kick with her right hind leg that broke through Roshina’s guard. The kick landed with a peal of thunder, sending Roshina careening away.

“Because of what it cost me!” Firefly roared her answer. “Because of the blood that was spilled!”

“For queen and country much blood was spilled during Valdus.” Roshina coughed and sputtered as she recovered from having the wind had been knocked out of her. “It was a necessary evil! What makes this different?”

The angry sky fell silent as Firefly pressed her eyes closed. Only her solitary wingbeats sounded in the void of her mind. The oceans of blood she spilled before meant nothing more than survival in the crucible of war. In the end, it was meaningless to her. Valdus was different. Valdus meant something; something personal.

“Because it was Powder’s blood.” Firefly’s voice quavered as she held the tears back. “My blood.”

“Then you understand the cost of devotion to your cause,” Roshina’s flat tone belied her intent.

A sudden rush of wind snapped Firefly back into awareness, just in time to block Roshina’s counterattack. The charge was quickly followed by a haymaker punch that sent Firefly spinning away and left her jaw throbbing. A tiny rill of blood trickled from her lip as Firefly quickly righted herself.

The pain was a wakeup call, a shot of rage and adrenaline that put her back into the fight. Roshina didn’t understand. But that didn’t matter. Firefly would make her understand.

“I understand what was taken from me, something you’ll never get!”

Firefly caught the wind in her wings, taking the momentum from Roshina’s blow and redirecting it into forward flight. Roshina stood her ground as Firefly approached. Her unwavering calmness faltered for a split second as she saw the fire in Firefly’s eyes. But it was only for a split second. A wave of her hands put up a disc-shaped magical shield in front of her.

Firefly flipped her knife open, this time with blade unsheathed. With one expertly-timed stroke, the aetherium-cored blade smashed through the barrier, spraying glass-like fragments of magical residue into a glittering halo around the two combatants. The sheath slid back onto the knife as Firefly resumed her attack.

What had begun as a clean demonstration of aerial prowess had turned into a vicious barroom brawl. It was brutal, dirty, and visceral; and Firefly was out for blood.

Her attacks were unrelenting; devastating punches chained into whirling kicks and flashing swipes of her combat knife. Each strike drove Roshina back, putting her constantly on the defensive. Finally, Firefly paused to wind up for another wheel kick, giving Roshina enough time to counter.

The dragoness grappled Firefly’s hind leg, using the momentum to swing her around and fling her away. But just as Firefly was about to slip past, she lashed out with a front foreleg, locking her hoof to Roshina’s bracer. Firefly hauled herself back into close combat, delivering a cross punch to the dragoness’ face that sent them both plummeting from the sky.

“If you still think we were heroes at Valdus, you don't know what it's like to lose someone!” Firefly snarled. The rain of blows resumed, both combatants striking, countering, reversing, and spinning wildly as they tumbled in freefall.

Firefly was numb. She could feel liquid, probably blood, being swept across her face by the blowing wind. She could hear the sky rushing past her ears and ruffling her mane and tail, each having come loose from their tie-downs during the fight. Her bones rattled and her muscles shook with every blow she took. Her hooves felt flesh beneath dragonscale give way with every blow she struck.

Firefly was only vaguely aware of an altitude warning in her earpiece. She was too focused on her quarry to care about petty numbers and rules. It wasn’t until she realized she could see details in the ground that she came to. She had to finish this fight. NOW.

A powerful punch broke Firefly’s guard leaving her open to follow-up strikes. Still fighting for control of combat, Firefly slipped backwards, making herself a target and drawing Roshina toward a low-hanging cloud. The dragoness lunged forward with a knockout blow.

Firefly gritted her teeth and charged. She felt what remained of her flak armor crumble into dust as she took the hit head on. There was pain. Pain in her chest. Pain in her head. Pain in her flesh. Her ribs bowed under the impact, threatening to crack. Her held breath protested its imprisonment in her lungs, clawing at the insides of her chest. Her head pounded with pent up blood as she felt Roshina’s other hand close around her neck.

With her last remaining lungful of air, Firefly locked arms with Roshina, leveraging her wings to whirl the dragoness around, sending them both careening toward the cloud.

There was a sound of thunder.

Several long moments passed before Firefly regained the lucidity to properly assess the situation. The pressure against her throat indicated that Roshina had locked her in a submission hold. Looking at the end of her outstretched leg, however indicated that she very well could have finished Roshina; indeed her knife was pressed firmly to the dragoness’ neck.

“Two simultaneous finishers,” the ARC operator reported. “The match ends in a draw!”

Roshina withdrew her hand and Firefly retracted her knife simultaneously, both combatants rolling upright on their feet on the cloud. For a moment, they stood there panting; all they could do was catch their breath. Finally, Roshina spoke.

“Well played, Firefly. I haven’t seen flying like that since Farrier’s Salient.”

“Let’s regroup with the others at the ARC ship,” Firefly almost didn’t allow her time to finish. “We’re due back at the Majestic soon.”

“Firefly.” Firefly’s snippiness gave Roshina pause. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Stow it, Roshina!” Firefly glared daggers at the dragoness. “There’s a reason I don’t brag about being the ‘Demon of Valdus.’ Don’t piss me off by mentioning it again!”

With her rebuke delivered, Firefly whirled around and keyed her radio. “Storm Warden, we’re done here. Return to center of arena for pickup. Wolf One, out.”

Author's Notes:

Musical Index
MOH: Warfighter - Lena
ACZ: The Belkan War - The Round Table
AC: Assault Horizon Legacy - On the Verge
ACZ: The Belkan War - Annex

Squadrons Featured (in order of appearance)
Timberwolf
PEACE, Task Force Paladin
VFA-108, CFT-1

Typhon
Pyrian Asymmetric Conflict Group (ACG)
44th Squadron, Alpha Team

Notes: Yes, the squad on squad fight is based on the encounter with Albireo team in ACAH Legacy from which the music is also drawn.