I have a particular distaste for bureaucracy.

Those who are marginally acquainted with me are usually surprised to hear that. They all surmise that I enjoy rigid structure and routine. What I actually enjoy is logical structure and adaptability, which manipulative micromanaging administrative bullshit seems diametrically opposed to.

Grand Master Luna picked up on this pet peeve of mine rather quickly, and strategically started punishing me with filling out paperwork as opposed to more traditional methods of martial discipline. She’s always careful to pick out the most trivial and tediously pedantic forms she can find; confirmation sheets to allocate funds into repainting park benches snow white as opposed to milky white, proposals to host the yearly Canterlot Pastry Festival on the northwest side of the gardens as opposed to the northeast, orders for the Ponyville breed of lilac flowers to be hung in the throne room as opposed to the Apploosen breed, permission forms to use suspension as opposed to the drop when I bloody hang myself.

My subordinates would probably conclude that I’m getting off easy, that filling out such paperwork is far more preferable to manual labor. It’s an opinion I can not agree with. A third of these forms will get a fraction of the way up the approval ladder before getting rejected or sent back for some inane reason, another third will get lost completely within the labyrinth of government agencies, and the remaining third will go towards changes no pony will notice or care about. At least with scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush, you know your labor will contribute directly to somepony taking the most comfortable and sanitary shit of their life.

Still, I should be grateful. I would’ve been discharged years ago if Grand Master Luna didn’t have Celestia tugging on her leash. I try to keep that in mind each time I glance over and see the night Princess exacerbating my frustrations by watching me fill everything out while she lounges in the most laid back and casual way possible, her rear hooves kicked up on my desk and leaning back in her chair. She reads some bit store pulp novel with a cliche trench coat detective stallion on the front, while some crappy industrial sludge bleeds out of her headphones. She has actual work to do, she makes sure I know that, and then she procrastinates just to annoy me. Her methods are effective, I have to give her that.

I put in yet another order for yet another obscure children’s book to be added to the royal library. Luna’s music echoes louder for a second as she places her headphones down. I can feel her eyes on me.

“You’re making good progress Captain.”

“I strive to be as efficient as possible your majesty,” I say without dropping my quill.

“Good to hear.” She teleports another tall stack of forms into the room that slams on the desk with heavy thwap.

“Because at the rate you’re going I bet you can finish all these by the end of the day.”

I stare at the towering stack for a brief second and stop myself from snapping the quill in half. “Yes, your majesty.”

“Hm, actually you might have time to spare at your pace. I know, from now on every time you finish a form you must stand at attention and bow until I dismiss you.”

I breathe in deep. “Yes, your majesty.”

I reach for the top sheet. Luna magically slaps my hoof away. “The hell are you doing Captain? You’ve already finished a form have you not? Stand.”

I hold in my breath, stand up, and assume attention. Luna stands right in front of me and stares me in the eye. “Excellent, now bow.”

I press my right hoof to my chest, lock my left hoof out, and lower my head. “Your Majesty.”

“Hold there for a moment, I need to use the toilet or the can as they call it today.”

She opens the door with her magic and as she steps outside a grey blur flies straight into her face and they both go crashing to the ground.

I remain bowed.

There’s some groaning and then a panicked shriek from a raspy voice that I recognize as Chaplain Derpy’s.

“Grand Master Luna, I’m sorry! We have an emergency!”

“I hope it’s important enough to warrant barging in here unannounced,” she says with a grate in her tone.

“Canterlot is under attack! Demons are in the city slaughtering civilians!”

I look up at them. Derpy is sprawled out across the Grand Master’s lap biting the tips of her hooves. Luna stares back at her with eyes wider than trumpet bells.

“Impossible,” she says. “Our scouts would’ve spotted a raiding party several miles off.”

“Well, the warning came down from Princess Celestia your majesty. She and Princess Twilight are currently engaged with a very powerful demon in the skies above the castle and at the same time we’re getting flooded with reports of demons running loose on the streets committing a massacre.”

Grand Master Luna stares in silence for a moment then snaps to me. “Captain, gather your squadron and proceed to the south entrance of the castle. I’ll meet you there shortly once I have a read on the situation. Chaplain, you’re with her, go!”

“Yes, your majesty!” we both shout.

The three of us rush out the office and down the hall into the central room. The whole base is already on high alert and mobilizing to go into battle. Sergeants shepherd pilgrims out of the way while chaplains load up on Nephil-eye and rub their robes down with holy water.

Luna flies toward the portal and dives through the water. I jump and slide down the walls to the terrace below and repeat the action for the next few terraces, heading straight for the bottom. Derpy glides right beside me still biting her hooves.

“I’ve got a really bad feeling about this Captain,” she says. “Why would so many demons just attack out of the blue, and so openly like this?”

“Right questions, wrong time,” I say. “Secure the city, protect the civvies, drive those cloven hooved bastards back to hell, and don’t get eaten. Then you can dig the answers out of their skulls.”

“Mam, yes mam!”

I slide down to the final terrace where most of my squadron is already gathered. Rows of black hoods file in and encircle the pit. They salute as I move through. I go straight to the front where Sergeant Bon-Bon is waiting. She smirks at me with her giant silver battle-ax slung over her shoulder.

“Squads 2, 3, 7, and 10 are reporting for duty mam,” she says.

“Has there been any word from others?”

“Squads 6, 8, 9, 11, and 12 are currently holding the gates to the city from demons. Nothing from those inside the city, unfortunately.”

“We’ll link up with them if we can. How much Dragon’s Breath do we have?”

“Twenty-Six bottles mam.”

“Twenty-Six? That’s all?”

“The alchemists have been late on resupply, and the other squadrons have been eating through what we have like crazy mam.”

“We still had a hundred and fifty tongues left in storage the last time I checked, what the hell happened?”

“It’s bad mam.”

I stare at her in disbelief. “Fuck it, pass out what we have to the squadron.”

“Already done mam. We also have four vials of Nephil-Eye and a bottle of Samson Wine mam.”

“Good, take two vials to Derpy and keep two for yourself. Give me the Samson Wine right now.”

She hands over a darkened black bottle with a chuckle. “Don’t trust me with it?”

“If I have need to kill the entire planet I’ll give you some.”

She laughs. I turn to face the squadron. Forty agents in total. Thirty more held up in the city, another fifty holding the gates. In any other circumstances, I’d say we’re more than prepared, but it sounds like we’re facing an army. Best to play this cautiously.

I reach into my robes and pull out a long glass vial of holy water. “Bless yourselves!”

Each soldier whips out their own personal vial and sprinkles it across their heads, back, and chest. I do the same. I then unsheath one of my silver sabers and flick my left hoof to unfold my hidden crossbow.

“Arms up!”

The whole squadron follows suit, taking out blades, axes, crossbows, knives, and spears, lots and lots of spears. Derpy reaches into her robes and pulls out a long silver claymore with glowing scarlet runes running down the flat of her blade. Bon-Bon beats the butt of her ax into the ground.

“We make for the south entrance of the castle to rendezvous with Grand Master Luna!” I say. “Expect enemy contact the second we make the jump! Sergeant Bon-Bon, take squad 2, you’re on point! Derpy your on Nephil, call out what you see! Pegasi, guard her with your lives! We don’t know what kind of enemy we’re facing or how numerous they are, so be prepared for anything! Everyone else on me!”

Everyone gets into position. Bon-Bon and the ten agents of squad 2 take up positions in the front. Derpy hovers above us. She sprinkles a small vial of reddish liquid in her eyes, and after a few blinks, her mismatched irises begin to glow like gold. The other fifteen pegasi of the squadron float around her. Everyone else gathers behind me. I allow myself one deep breath.

“Steel yourselves! Go!”

Bon-Bon charges in first with Squad 2 right behind her. The pegasi follow shortly after them. I count in my head, three, two, one.

“Charge!”

I rush towards the portal myself with the remaining soldiers charging after me. I leap straight into the fall of water. I picture the giant double doors of the castle. There’s a cold sensation like touching the skin of ice, and then I see the burning sky.

The courtyard is littered with the corpses of royal guards, twitching gold bedecked limbs splayed alongside headless torsos that gush up blood. The small surviving contingent of the guard is being swarmed by winged succubi and bald fury demons that come soaring in over the gates. Bon-Bon is already on them, cleaving a skinny succubus in half while the rest of her squad rush to join her. Derpy shouts to be heard over the fury of the fight, calling out their movements.

I order my squadron to set up a perimeter along the steps leading up to the castle and secure a space for the surviving guards to safely retreat.

“Captain!” Derpy shouts.

She motions to the towering double doors of the castle behind us. One of them has been blown open and several dozen servants, maids, chefs, and a few noble ponies stare out from inside. There are three dead guards on the ground, a wounded guard slumped against the door and a furious one with a halberd standing in front of him. The lone standing guard is fending off two cackling fury demons flapping above on black feathered wings. One of the demons holds the severed head of a fallen guard in its bestial claws and proceeds to skull fuck it with its serpentine organ.

I bark the orders. “Squadron, douse the courtyard with Dragon’s Breath! No demons get through! Derpy, with me on the gates! Take the left one, I got the right!”

I fire a crossbow bolt at the demon who’s fucking the guard’s head. I hit it right in the back of its fleshy bald skull, shocking it for a second and buying the guard enough time to stick his halberd through its hairy stomach and disembowel it. Derpy charges in at the same time, slicing the left demon before it can react, gashing its pale face and sending it flipping to the ground. It lands on its taloned feet, holding a long sizzling scar beneath its pure black eye.

It snarls as Derpy swings at it again and catches her blade in its jagged teeth. It forces her back against the castle wall and tries to stab her with its jagged hulking claws. The points stick less than an inch in her cloak, stopped by the magic enchantments in the material, and then the demon falls weak, struck cripplingly ill by the effects of the holy water. I rush behind it before it can force its way back up. I bury my saber in its neck, catch the spine, then decapitate it with a swift jerk.

I kick the headless body away and exhale a deep breath. “Aim for the throat next time Chaplain!”

“Y-Yes mam!” she says shaking.

I glance over at the guard by the door and see him kneeling by his wounded comrade, holding his wounds shut. He’s gonna need medical attention fast.

I look towards the courtyard. The area is obscured in thick white clouds of swirling mist, at least five bottles worth of Dragon’s Breath. Demons howl and shriek inside of the clouds, writhing on the ground as their flesh melts off their bones. Agents and guards within the mist groan from burning eyes but are otherwise unharmed.

“Soldiers, regroup on me!”

I keep shouting as loudly as I can so those fighters who still breath can follow my voice out of the mist. Squad 2 falls back to the perimeter, bringing with them several standing guards, and a few wounded ones. Bon-Bon jumps out of the mist, the demonic blood that stains her robes sizzles and dissolves from the Dragon’s Breath. The pegasi squad also falls back, splattered in blood and with noticeably fewer numbers.

I quickly herd all those still standing into a wall formation in front of the doors, shields raised, spears thrusting out. The demons keep back, waiting for the burning mist to dissipate.

I look back at the wounded guard by the door and his friend desperately trying to keep him hanging on to life. I look over at the blown open door, spot a maid spying out from inside, and point at her. “You!”

She shrieks at my attention.

“Is the castle doctor with you?” I ask.

“H-He, He was killed,” she answers trembling. “The roof caved in and he was crushed underneath.”

“Do you have medical supplies? Anything, even a first aid kit?”

“Y-Yes, we’ve got plenty of those.”

“Bring them out! Derpy, go patch up that soldier!”

She looks back at him and then back to me. “I’m still on Nephil-Eye though, shouldn’t I be here? Ready to fight?”

I order Bon-Bon to give me one of her vials, which she does, and I promptly sprinkle it in my own eyes. “I can handle it myself. Go save that soldier Chaplain.”

She doesn’t hesitate after that and zips over to the wounded guard just as the maid comes scampering out with three bags of first aid. The guard’s friend praises her like an angel from heaven and plants a kiss on her cheek, leaving a bloody lip mark.

I shake my head at the display and turn back to the battlefield.

Twisting hazy shapes begin to form in my vision, dark glowing auras that move behind the mist of Dragon’s Breath. I can see them moving, planning. They congregate higher up, flying over the shrouds of mist, preparing for a straif.

“They’re coming from above! Pegasi, counter-offensive!”

The pegasi squad charges forward. The demons pop up over the mist and are immediately great with spear points to the face. Piercing shrieks and twisted wails echo as the demons plummet to the ground in pieces.

I see more dark auras. The clouds of Dragon’s Breath become thinner, and there effects less severe. Demons near the ground are moving forward, receiving burns but nothing like the lethal results from earlier.

“Squadron lay down a new shroud of Dragon’s Breath right in front of the old one, then split and move along the sides of the courtyard! Surround the enemy!”

Five agents in the rear immediately pull out a bottle of Dragon’s Breath each and smash them down right before the quickly thinning clouds. The squadron then splits and charges through the outer edges of the courtyard, through the haze of mist they just created. My eyes are slightly irritated as I move through, simply blinking fast is enough to make it tolerable. I can spot the auras of the demon’s moving through. They’re almost through the old clouds and are about to run into the fresh ones. We pop out on the other side of the clouds, directly behind them.

“Hold!” I say.

The demons keep moving forward, then there’s a choir of howling shrieks as they come hurtling back towards us with melted flesh.

“Charge!”

The squadron instantly runs forward. I charge with them. Blood splatters against my chest as I stab my blade through a succubus throat. I cry viciously. I jerk the blade out of its neck. I taste copper. My squadron pushes them back. Bon-Bon laughs. Horned heads roll on the ground, furies curl up impaled on the ends of spears, succubi crawl away with their entrails hanging out. We slaughter them all in seconds.

The battle in the air is still going on above us. The demon’s numbers have been drastically reduced, yet they continue to fight. They launch themselves frenzied, almost suicidally at the pegasi soldiers, and it’s starting to have an effect. Several agents are gored and ripped apart in the air. Some are devoured and the demons hold them in place as they ravenously bite and strip away their flesh. Blood and feathers rain to the ground.

There’s a stallion agent that gets tackled and slammed against the courtyard floor like a boulder, his body goes limp. The succubus that tackled him rips off his robes, grinds her cunt against his face, and bites off his genitalia. I fire a bolt into her neck. The holy water blessed tip burns a gaping hole in her throat so big the stallion’s severed phalice falls out of it. I watch her wretch and bleed out with a dick stuck in her throat.

“Captain, move!”

I hear the fury before I see it. Bon-Bon shoves me out of the way right before the demon sinks its talons into her chest. Bon-Bon, without even flinching, swings her battle-ax and cleeves the demon’s legs off, leaving its talons sticking out of her chest. The fury screeches and tries to charge again, but several soldiers have already surrounded it, and in a matter of moments it’s speared and gutted by over a dozen blades.

The remaining demons are cut to ribbons above us. The final one is impaled by three spears and decapitated.

There is silence.

The clouds of Dragon’s Breath fully evaporate, letting the sun reflect off the ocean of blood we stand in. My squadron collectively breaths a sigh of relief, but stays vigilant. I look back to the stairs. There’s a small collection of partially melted demon skeletons dripping with flesh. None of them made it to the doors. Derpy is just finishing with the stallion, having to beat off his friend’s overly grateful affection. Bon-Bon taps at the talons embedded in her chest, barely looking affected by it, as usual. Derpy moves to help her remove them, and patch up the bleeding.

“The weaker ones are supposed to be fucking cowards,” one of my agents groans. “They’re all pomp and teeth when they think they have the advantage, but once it's clear they're not gonna win they piss off like the insects they are. What the hell is up with these things?”

“They were acting much more aggressive than normal,” says another agent. “They just threw themselves at us without regard for life or limb. It's almost like they wanted to die, or didn't care.”

I reload my crossbow, pushing in the bolts with slightly more force than necessary. I feel the stinging need for a cigarette coming on, but I bite it, for now, knowing damn well that getting relaxed is a good way to get your head torn off. I look down at one of the demons, its face carved up like a jigsaw puzzle. I remember a line from a grizzly novel I once read. “Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”

“Captain Octavia! Is there a Captain Octavia here?”

There’s a guard running through the courtyard shouting my name, not one of the castle guards but one of Luna’s guards, a copper maned bat pony wearing dark armor.

“You are looking for me,” I shout.

He looks around. “Where are you, sir? I can’t make out faces with those hoods of yours.”

I growl in anger. “That’s mam, jackass! I’m over here!”

The guard jumps and salutes in my direction. “My apologies Captain. I am Captain Nightfall, first officer of Princess Luna’s personal guard. The Princess is currently joined with her sister and Princess Twilight, engaging the enemy leader. She has ordered me back here to relay her orders and give you a briefing of the situation.”

“Bring me up to speed, promptly!”

“Princess Luna and Celestia have ordered a full-scale evacuation of Canterlot,” he says. “This has been greatly complicated by the fact that large sections of the city are currently swarming with demons, making rescue efforts difficult. Captains Hazal’s squadron is currently engaged in the theater districts and has so far been successful in clearing out the enemy and getting civilians out. Captain Blue Moon’s squadron is deployed in the market district and has been meeting heavy resistance, though still managing to defend the civilians. There are also stray squads of order agents who were out on patrol during the attack who have managed to hold the exits to the city against repeated assaults. This gives us firm control over the majority of Canterlot, however, the demons still have a major foothold downtown. Order agents in that area were forced to retreat and all have reported massive casualties both military and civilian.”

“If we still control most of the city then why are we evacuating? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have the civvies hunker down somewhere safe and mount rescue efforts for those inside the hotspots?”

“Well, that was the original plan, until—”

There’s a massive shockwave that knocks the entire platoon off balance. Stone and mortar rains down, forcing us to duck under shields or run like hell. I kneel underneath the bat pony’s shield and see one of the castle towers collapsing, falling back towards the gardens. Standing in the base where the tower once stood is a demon almost as big as the tower itself, with massive fiery wings and a halo of fire above its head. It lets out a deafening roar with flames spewing from its mouth.

“That guy showed up,” answers Captain Nightfall.

“How the hell did that thing get through?”

“We don’t know Captain. It was already in the city when the alerts went out, and more demons just started popping up everywhere shortly after.”

There’s a massive blast of magic that forces the gigantic demon off balance. I see three specks of light in the sky close to the demon, the glowing horns of the Princesses. The demon laughs and thrusts its arm forward, its limb extends like a rubber band and swatts the darkened speck of light out of the air. The golden speck shoots over to catch her, while the violet speck magically shields them all from another blast of fire. I can actually feel the heat of those flames from where I’m standing.

“They’re getting slaughtered,” I say.

“They can’t unleash their full strength as long as that thing remains inside the city, not while there are still ponies inside at least.”

“Meaning they probably won’t be able to put a dent in that thing until the evacuation is complete.”

“Precisely Captain.”

I stare up the raging battle above us a moment longer. The Princesses should still be able to vaporize entire armies, even if they’re holding back. Yet all of their attacks bounce off the demon’s chest like insects against glass. It laughs at their attacks and fires another blast of flames that extends for miles. The princesses are able to dodge around it, can’t say the same for the houses below.

“Captain, Luna has left orders for you to evacuate downtown. You are to proceed there with your squadron as quickly as possible, avoid engagements along the way if you can. There’s been reports that the demons down there are far more powerful than in other areas of the city, and have trapped a large number of civilians inside. Get as many out as you can, then get far away from the city.”

“It’ll be done swiftly, Captain.”

I raise my sword straight up above my head and call out, “Arch squadron, gather yourselves! We’re taking this fight into the city!”

There’s a nervous cry of acknowledgment, as most tear their gaze from battle above and move into formation.

“Heaven help you, Captain Octavia,” says Nightfall.

“Heaven help us all,” I say.

I turn back to my squadron. We lost six pegasi agents and two ground agents. Only Bon-Bon was wounded, and frankly, she doesn’t count. Enemy numbers unknown, assumed to be extreme.

I order my squadron to form up and prepare to move out. I order the nine remaining pegasi to act as lookouts above us. Derpy falls in with them, brushing slightly dried blood from her hooves. Bon-Bon walks alongside me, adjusting her robes to cover the fresh bandages on her chest.

I order my soldiers to the castle gates. Two guards run up the towers to check for any demons outside. Once they’re sure the way is clear they open the gates and lower the drawbridge.

“Move out!”

The squadron gallops forward across the moat and into the city. The areas close to the castle are mostly intact, but as we move deeper in we start to see ravaged buildings with blown out windows and burning rooftops. Civvies rush out of smoking homes dragging foals and loved ones. City guards direct them down the streets where a large crowd forms heading towards the city gates.

I briefly look back at the clash between the Princesses and see the massive demon dodging repeated lunges from the three of them all at once. The Princesses try swinging out wide, likely attempting to lure it further away from the city. It doesn’t take the bait and instead shoots a blast of fire directly into the theater district. The three princesses scramble back to take its attention off the town.

There’s a knot that forms in my chest. I order the squadron to double-time it and we rush over to downtown. Along the way, we run across city guards and robed order agents running towards cries of combat in the distance. We also encounter several ponies that aren’t wearing robes carrying silver weapons. Patrol agents, likely off duty before the attack, and now find themselves in a warzone. Some of the patrol squads we come across are from my squadron and join up with us. Our numbers swell to a total of thirty ground troops and twelve pegasi by the time we approach downtown.

The area becomes a collection of tightly packed stone quarters and alleyways. Old abandoned shops with swinging signs advertising dresses, mane styles, cuisine, souvenirs, and then we spot one with an eviscerated corpse hanging off it. The once bustling tourist spot is now an echoing ghost town, which slowly turns into a burning ruin.

The pegasi spot fury demons flying high up over the district, fighting over helpless victims they’ve carried up there with them. They tear, and bite, and rip up the defenseless ponies, greedily devouring whatever flesh they can claw from each other.

I order the pegasi squad to keep an eye on them but not to engage. I also order Derpy to have the pegasi squad ready to throw Dragon's Breath at a moment's notice. In close quarters like this, a bombing run could save our asses.

We continue further downtown and the signs of conflict only get worse. Most of the buildings are damaged in some way, if not completely caved in altogether. Smoke pours in over the streets from fires off in another part of town. Bodies line the streets, most mutilated or partially devoured. Some are strung up from lamp posts or crucified against the sides of buildings with shards of wood rammed through every orifice.

We come across a lone incubus demon fucking the headless throat of a school filly. One of my agents throws his spear and impales the monster through the throat. It falls to the ground gargling its own blood and clutching its wound to stop the bleeding and is then stabbed and hacked to death by several more agents.

Derpy lands next to the headless filly’s body, looks at it with dull pity, then looks down the road and all around.

“Chaplain, why have you landed? You're supposed to be on lookout with the other pegasi,” I scold.

Derpy looks at me with concern. “Captain, may I have permission to use another dose of Nephile-Eye?”

“Why Chaplain?”

“Because this incubus is the only thing we've seen so far in terms of threats and our intel said this place was supposed to be swarming with demons.”

The squadron is silent. The crackling of fire is all that's heard.

I nod to Derpy. She takes out her last vial of Nephil and sprinkles it in her eyes. She then flies up above us and looks out across the city.

“This is odd Captain. Every demon in the area is heading out of the city.”

“They're leaving?” I say in astonishment. “Why? They had complete control over this section. It doesn't make sense.”

“Maybe they ran out of victims to feast upon,” an agent says.

“Or maybe they saw us coming and shat themselves,” jokes another

While my squadron debates among themselves I contemplate it in silence and become more baffled the longer I do. First, they act aggressively when they stand no chance of winning, then they just run when they're in total control? This behavior is unheard of. Something truly strange is happening here, and I can't shake the crushing feeling that the demon currently fighting the Princesses is related to it, if not the direct cause.

“Captain!” Derpy shouts. “There are still some demons left nearby, three of them! I think… I think they're Motholite demons!”

“Motholite demons? You’re positive about that?”

“Yes, Captain I’m positive.”

“Son of a bitch. Where are they?”

“Coming south on Pepper Street Captain, approaching Horn Avenue.”

“Captain!” shouts another pegasus. “I've spotted civvies running from that area. Some are wounded.”

“Mother fucker. Pegasi, fly ahead and unleash a volley of Dragon’s Breath on the bastards. Take them out if you can, but do not engage them directly!”

“Yes, mam!”

They all shoot off towards the fight and I rush my troops down the blood-slicked roads after them. The presence of the Motholite demons becomes more apparent as we draw closer. The ground starts to rumble and we hear what sounds like snarling tigers. We round a corner and come to an intersection. One street is blocked off by massive acidic clouds, at least five tongues worth of dragon’s breath. Mares and stallions come fleeing from that direction, some ragged and bloody, some limping and being helped by others.

“It looks like we got one of the Motholites Captain,” says Derpy. “The other two are on the move, heading west. I’ll keep an eye out.”

“You keep a close eye out Chaplin. Squadron, get the civvies out of here. I want two walls of spear ponies ready to stop a charge if it comes.”

My agents obey without hesitation. The civvies are checked for injuries and then directed to the gates. Some ask or beg to be escorted, but we are short on soldiers and those Motholites will no doubt crush them unless they’re killed here, so we order them off alone.

The spear lines form up just a few feet in front of the Dragon’s Breath clouds, one line standing, one line crouching, and all holding spears out ready to strike. I take out the large black bottle of Samson wine that Bon-Bon gave me earlier. I yank out the cork with my teeth, whiffing the sharp scent of raspberries. I move to the line of spearponies and hold out the bottle to the first agent.

“They’re flanking!” Derpy shouts. “Captain, they’re flanking!”

Her warning comes a second before a row of buildings on the street left of us explodes into a hail of crushed stone and shattered glass. Two massive demonic stallions the size of elephants come charging through. They turn to the line of spearponies and lower their giant jutting bullhorns.

“Pull back! Dragon’s breath! Dragon’s breath!”

The pegasi launch another volley of dragon’s breath, but the demons are already too close. Only one tongue out of the entire volley manages to find its mark and the demons charge straight through that. Whatever damage it did only succeed in pissing them off.

My agents start to run, but Sergeant Bon-Bon runs straight at the demons. She leaps headlong at the nearest Motholite which charges at her with a wide gaping mouth and multiple rows of jagged teeth. She swings her ax straight into its mouth. There’s a deafening crash. Bon-Bon’s ax rips through the bottom section of the jaw and slices it off at the hinge. The Motholite screeches and topples over crashing to the ground.

Bon-Bon falls off to the side, but the blunt section of the demon’s horn catches her in the face as she falls. She flips, lands on her stomach, and then immediately gets trampled on by the second Motholite. With nothing in its way, the demon charges towards us and lowers its horns.

“Scatter!”

I scream the order, but it’s given too late. The demon plows headlong into the left flank of the spearpony line. Agents scream as they’re gored, trampled, and devoured. Blood bursts out of crushed faces, splattering against my cheeks. I dive out the way of the stomping hooves. Several soldiers try to regroup and hold their spears up against the giant, but with too few numbers it does nothing. The spearheads embed into the demon’s wrinkly grey chest and the poles snap off from the force. The magically enchanted robes offer only mild resistance against the demon's horns. There’s another horrific wave of crying as the demon impales several agents and gnaws their bones.

I grab a hysterical agent and yank her back before a hoof the size of a tree trunk comes crashing down where she was. I shove the whimpering mare into an alley then turn back to the fight. I see Derpy trying to rally the pegasi together, scrambling to see who still has any tongues of Dragon’s Breath.

We likely have enough for one last volley at best. We need to make this count.

I take aim with my crossbow and fire a bolt straight into the Motholite’s eye. It howls in pain and stares back at me. I unsheath my second silver saber and run. The earth vibrates as the demon comes charging behind me. I go straight for the other Motholite which stands back up, tongue dangling out its missing jaw, and approaches Bon-Bon who’s lying groaning and broken on the ground. It lifts a gigantic hoof to crush her, but right as I think her luck finally ran out, she somehow turns on her side and swings that huge battle-ax from the ground. She hits it right into the side of its hoof the moment it starts coming down and cleaves part of it off. The Motholite howls in pain and topples down on its side. I run faster, hop up on its hind leg and then jump onto its side. I turn back to the other Motholite, take aim with my crossbow, wait for it to get just close enough, then fire and shoot out its other eye. The demon screeches in agony but doesn’t have enough time to stop its charge. I barely have enough time to dive off the demon’s side before the other Motholite comes crashing into it. I land rolling before I turn to see both Motholites collapsed on top of each other, roaring and squirming all around.

“Now! Throw every tongue we have left!” I shout.

The order reaches to the pegasi above who answer it instantly. Six tongues come raining down right on top of the demons and burst into huge burning white clouds. The demons screech and thrash around inside the mist, shaking the ground and collapsing several buildings nearby. The agents which still stand all circle around the mist with blades and spears at the ready. The vibrations begin to die down. One of the demons falls out of the clouds, its face melted off leaving only a bloody partially liquid skull. The agents breath a massive sigh of relief. I exhale my breath. Then the second demon comes charging out of the mist and rams me in the chest with its horn.

The world spins. I’m weightless. I feel nothing in my chest and everything around it is agony. My back slams into the ground, no, a wall. My face slams into the ground. I struggle with all my strength to breathe. I clutch at my chest, but I feel no blood. My chest is throbbing but there’s no open wound, not even a small cut.

I push myself up on wobbly legs and see the demon jumping wildly and crushing a crying pegasus beneath a hoof that’s nothing but exposed bone. Remarkably it’s still alive, but just barely. Its flesh is dripping off its body, exposing half dissolved bones underneath. Its eyes have melted completely leaving only bloody red holes in its skull. Its horns have dissolved down to tiny blunt nubs, which is probably the only reason I’m still alive right now.

“Captain!”

Derpy and come rushing over to me with a look of horrid concern. “Dear Celestia, how are you still standing?”

I wipe off a bloody lip. “Get back in there soldier, strike it while it’s still hurka—” I cough up blood and slump against the stone ground.

“Captain, you could have a collapsed lung after a hit like that. Leaving you here could be disastrous.”

I grab at her cloak with what little strength I have and growl in her face. “We need, to hit that son of a bitch right now while it’s still weak. If we wait, it’ll heal and all our efforts will be for nothing. Now get back in there and shove your sword up its ass!”

Derpy stares at me silently like I’m some child begging her on the street.

“Go! Now!” I demand.

She jerks back and dashes off towards the fight. I watch her fly for a moment before I cough and keel over in sheer agony. I crane my neck to look at the battle. Bon-Bon is literally limping towards it. The demon swings a broken hoof at her, and Bon-Bon throws her entire weight behind an ax swing to block it. She actually manages to match the strike, embedding the blade of her ax partially through the hoof. Even as she fights, however, steam rises out of the demon’s wounds and the holes in its flesh begin to seal up. Its face becomes less deformed, its horns grow back into deadly sharp points.

I need to get back in there.

I stand up, gritting my teeth against raw agony, and step forward. One step makes the already searing pain explode. I yelp and collapse down in the street again. I groan, struggling to gain back my breath. I dig my hooves into the borders of the stone and crawl forward, careful not to let the bad side drag against the street.

I feel something crunch beneath my hoof. There’s a shattered bottle on the ground. I must have dropped the Samson wine mid-flight. The dark liquid runs through the cracks in the streets in long slithering lines. There’s still enough for one.

I lower my head to the ground and slurp the wine off the ground. I grimace as I taste grime in the familiar spicy-sweet flavor I’ve come to know. I suck up as much as I can, even lap with my tongue like a cat, until I start to feel it kick in.

The throbbing pain starts to ebb away until I’m completely numb. I still struggle to breathe, but even the effort I exert is numbed. There’s a moment, like the time between a flash of lightning and the roar of thunder, where I can’t feel anything. Then, energy. Raw pent up aggression. My labored breathing becomes rapid and heavy like an enraged tiger, and my arms and legs tense up hard as stone. I grit my teeth and stand up. I pick my silver sabers up off the ground. I pant and snarl like a wild animal then charge forward with a frenzied scream.

The wind whistles in my ear and a thin layer of vapor builds up on my skin. The demon smacks Bon-Bon’s ax to the ground and then lifts up another hoof to finish her off. I leap five yards through the air and slash the demon’s hoof, right through the bend of its knee. It shrieks and flings its wounded hoof back at me. I jump, flip over its flailing hoof, then gash the beast across the cheek. It stumbles back, giving me enough time to launch myself off the ground, stab my blade into its neck, and swing myself up onto its back.

It snarls and bucks furiously, smashing itself against buildings and flailing its whole body to throw me off. I grab on to its gnarled mane tight enough to rip it from its scalp and brace myself against the collapsing stone that rains down on its back. I drive one of my sabers deep into the back of its neck, then swing across and bury the second one into its throat.

The demon howls then jumps high into the air. It twists around, I lose my balance, grip the swords I have lodged in its neck until they come sliding out. I fall several dozen feet through the air. The demon raises its hooves to come crashing down on top of me upon landing. I point my swords to give it one last dying stab when Derpy comes flying across and pulls me out of harm’s way.

The demon lands shortly after we do, punching four gaping holes in the street. It scrapes its hooves in the stone ready to charge again, but I’ve bought my squadron more than enough time to regroup and place themselves in a more advantages position for its charge. They stand behind me, spears raised, weapons drawn.

Derpy tries to put me down behind my agents, still worried about my health. I rip myself out of her hooves and jump over the line of soldiers to the front, screaming in a frenzy

The demon roars like an enraged tiger and charges at us once more. I take aim with my crossbow and fire a bolt straight into the demon’s eye. It shrieks and flails its head. It keeps charging at us but with its head slightly raised, exposing its neck. That’s my opening.

I kick off on my hind legs and launch myself like a boulder from a trebuchet. I thrust both my swords forward and stab them into its throat, slamming them in up to hilts which hit it with the force of a cannonball. It wretches and slows its charge. I twist my blades in and bite the skin of its neck to keep myself from falling. The squadron rushes forward without needing to be told. More than a dozen spears and swords stab into its chest and cut deep into its hooves. The pegasi squad dives in once more, but instead of slashing and waving off like before, they stab and bury their swords deep into the demon’s face and head.

The monster’s charge drags to a crawl. The spearponies slide back on their hooves as they struggle to drive their weapons in deeper. The demon keeps walking, but it does so almost automatically. Its open eye stares up into the sky, looking empty, then scared, and then lifeless.

The two-ton body keels over on its side and several agents need to jump in order to avoid getting crushed. One by one the agents pull their weapons out of the demonic corpse and breath a collective sigh of relief. I remain clamped to the demon’s neck, panting like a dog for several moments, then yank my swords out with a screech.

“Captain…” Derpy approaches staring at me in awe. “How the hell did you do that?”

I snort out a heated breath and answer in a low gravelly tone. “About a shot and a half of Samson wine.”

Her reverent face fades into shocked horror. “You drank what!”

“We can trade stories later chaplain. Right now, Sergeant Bon-Bon needs your help and we also need to sweep the area for any more civvies.”

“No, Captain,” She stands right in front of me and blocks my path. “I don’t think you know how dangerous what you just did is.”

“It was half a shot below the maximum dose,” I spit while pushing her out of the way.

“That’s not the point. You just suffered from massive blunt force trauma to the chest, and then you go and take one of the strongest numbing agents known in Equestria.”

“That’s what numbing agents—are—fugh—” I’m suddenly light headed and fall onto my back. The smoke from the city is swirling above me like stormy clouds, drifting off into nowhere. How delightful.

“Shit! Shit! This is what I was trying to warn you about!” Derpy says. She sounds distressed for some reason. I don’t know. I’m going to rest my eyes now.

“Knife! Goddamnit, somepony get me a knife!”

Pulsing, burning pain drums in my brain. I feel like I just woke up from a three-day bender.

I blink my eyes slowly. My sight adjusts to the ashen skies. Sergeant Bon-Bon sits in front of me. Her robes have been taken off, one of her arms is in a cast and her whole torso is wrapped in bandages. Her head and the left side of her face are also bandaged up, yet she still manages to smirk at me with that unshakable confidence.

“Motholite charge, full force, to the chest,” she says. “Don’t you start trying to outdo me, Captain.”

“What the hell happened?” I groan.

“After you started napping Chaplain Derpy Hooves moved like lightning to bring you back. Stuck a knife in your side, somehow that got you breathing again. Got a unicorn to cast some pretty serious healing spells on you as well. She said you’ll still need surgery after all this, but for now, you won’t die. She was confident enough about that to leave you in my care while she went off treating more wounded.”

“What about the civvies?”

“Rounded up all we could find and guided them out of the city. Now we’re just waiting for the princesses to do their thing.”

There’s a piercing boom and a far off rumble. Ponies scream all around us. I lean my head up and see that we’re in a rocky field overlooking the city. There’s thousands of ponies all around us. Mothers and fathers, foals and elders, paupers and nobles. They stretch on for what seems like miles in a sea of faces. Many of them look up in the same direction, up the sloping mountains towards the city.

Canterlot is in flames. The walls have crumbled, houses flattened, and massive sections of the city are rising with the smoke. The castle still stands, like a blazing jewel atop a melting crown. Flashes of light and fiery death shoot across the sky above it, with little regard for the capital below. The princesses fight on, and the demon still endures.

“How long have they been at it?”

“Little over an hour now. The princesses went full force as soon as all the civvies were evacuated. Now it’s just a matter of wearing the bastard down.”

There’s a bright blast of light as a golden beam shoots across the earth and strikes a large black mass into the ground. Pillars of flame shoot up from the crater it formed and a deafening roar echoes for miles, sending a shiver through everypony who hears it.

“Is it safe to be this close?”

“About as safe as we’re going to get,” answers Bon-Bon. “Scouts have reported demons hiding out in the hills leading away from the city. Some have reported seeing more Motholite demons among them. We can’t risk moving an entire city down there. We’re stretched thin as it is. Better to just hunker down in the safest position we can find and wait for the fight to end.”

I look back at the battle and squint my eyes at the buzzing dots in the distance. The princesses have begun dealing much more damage since we left, beating back the demon with massive, devastating blasts of energy, but the demon never goes down. It almost seems to laugh at them, even when they’re going all out.

The civvies around us stare in silent awe at the battle. Some cheer excitedly, optimistically chanting on the princesses as they fight. Others huddle together, comforting scared loved ones and foals. I notice Chaplain Derpy a short way down the hill attending to some wounded child who smiles at her despite being in obvious pain.

I sigh and rest my head on the ground. “You got a cigarette?”

“Pfft, you shitting me.” She reaches into a bag beside her and pulls out two fat cigars, already cut and wrapped in a regal griffin seal.

“How could I forget. You love to show off.”

She chuckles and lowers the butt of the cigar into my teeth. I roll it around in my mouth while she lights a cedar match and holds it against the end. I let the woodsy hazelnut flavor waft in my mouth for a moment before puffing it out in several thick twisting clouds. The tension that has built up in me over the past hour just melts out. I relax, though I’d still prefer a cigarette. I like to inhale.

I hold the cigar in my hoof for a moment and look over at Bon-Bon. She has just finished lighting her own cigar, holds it to her mouth, and audibly inhales before blowing out the smoke in one long continuous stream.

She sees me glaring at her and gives me a mocking smirk

“Fuck you,” I spit.

She laughs like a fat drunk and snorts smoke out her nostrils. I shake my head and take another puff on my own cigar.

I look back at Canterlot as I puff. Everyone is staring off at the explosions of magic and fire in the sky, worried or anxiously awaiting for their princesses victory. I stare down at the city below the fight, at the crumbled walls, the fallen stone structures, the collapsed homes, the burning streets.

I’ve never seen destruction on a scale such as this. I’ve seen neighborhoods burned, families slaughtered, countless minds and souls broken, but never an entire city destroyed. The demons have always been a terrifying presence, but their capacity for death has always been limited by their distrust of each other and their small numbers. The destruction of a city is something that has never happened in my lifetime, specifically because the Order was always able to band together and strike down any demonic force before they could become strong enough to do it. There has never been a force of demons strong or large enough to sack a city since the arrival of the alicorns. Now, that which entire armies have tried and failed to do has been accomplished largely by one single demon.

Predicting what history will deem significant is often a difficult effort, but this is the exception. I’ve got a horrible prick in my gut that says I’ve only just begun to see the ramifications.

The crowd around us begins to cheer and stomp their hooves into the ground. I move my gaze up and see the demon being restrained in the air by a twisting violet aura of magic. Glowing lights, like stars in the night sky, appear on opposing sides of the demon; one burning golden and the other a luminous ethereal ray. These two lights grow brighter and brighter as the monster struggles within its magic bonds. Then, the two lights shoot massive blasts of magical energy that collide into the demon on both ends.

There’s a blinding explosion that sends a shockwave that can be felt even out here, miles out from the city. The grass is uprooted, foals are knocked to the ground, and the burning end of my cigar is blown out. When the blast dies down there’s nothing but a massive cloud of smoke hovering above the city, which slowly dissipates to reveal an empty sky, devoid of any demons.

The crowd erupts into elated applause, chanting the names of the princesses and praising God with tears in their eyes.

Bon-Bon chuckles and slaps me on the shoulder. “They made it look easy.”

Yeah, they did. I don’t like that.

I stare up at the sky where the demon once was, scanning the horizon, slowly trying to swallow that it could be over just like that. That’s when I see it. High above the city, higher than the princesses celebrating their victory, there’s an unearthly red ring spinning in the sky and glowing like a star. It expands, growing wider and wider, blocking out the smoke, blocking out the sun. Soon it grows big enough for everyone to notice, and the cheering slowly dies out. Within the ring the lines of a pentagram form, with glowing demonic runes within the points of the star. There’s an echoing shriek, like the tormented voice of an infant, and then an explosion of hellish light.

Fiery balls of energy rain down from the pentagram and crash into the city, exploding upon impact. There’s a haunting silence as everyone watches what little remains of their home be decimated into a flat burning wreck. Streaks of light rage within the storm, gold, black, and violet twist dodging around the projectiles. Then objects like whips lash out from the pentagram and strike the streaks of light. There are several thunderous cracks, and then three huge explosions.

I raise my hoof to shield my eyes from the light. I notice beneath the edge of my arms something streaking down from above the city, heading towards us like a fiery comet. Several ponies scream and run farther up the hill. Bon-Bon throws herself on top of me and pushes my head down. The earth shakes and there’s a deafening boom as the object hits the ground. I feel something like rain shower down on us, and I open my eyes to see it is dirt.

Bon-Bon steps off of me slowly and I’m able to look at the mound of earth pushed up into a crater nearby. Ponies slowly rise from the ground, either to run away from or move closer to it. I try to push myself up and trot over to the crater, but there’s a dull pain in my side and my hooves are still weak.

“Hey, don’t be stupid. You’re still in no condition to walk,” says Bon-Bon.

“That could have been one of the princesses. I need to get over there and see this.”

“No, you don’t,” she says. “But, I know better than to think I can talk you out of it.”

She slips her head beneath my forehooves and hoists me onto her back. “Don’t go passing out on me though. I’d like to stay on good terms with our medic.”

I quietly agree and then she carries me over to the crater at a brisk pace. Dozens of ponies have crowded around, with hundreds more observing from a distance. Some of the guards and agents try to wave them back for safety, but most are gawking at what’s resting at the bottom of the crater. Bon-Bon carries me all the way to the edge of the crater and resting dead center of it is Princess Twilight.

Several agents already surround her, including Chaplain Derpy Hooves who frantically takes stock of her wounds. One of her wings is bent at an odd angle and there are peeling black burns running all across her back. She moves a shaking hoof up to her forehead and wipes a streak of blood off it. She looks down at her bloody hoof in horror. Then she looks up and sees the dozens of ponies staring at her in crushed shock.

“Twilight!”

The Princess’s drake assistant comes rushing out of the crowd and hurtling down the crater. Princess Twilight looks at him like a mother just finding her lost foal. She moves several agents out of the way with her magic and opens an arm to embrace him. She holds his crying face against her chest. He asserts repeatedly that she’s dying, and she assures him that she’s not. She stands up, against Derpy’s protests, and casts a spell to wipe away the blood on her face. The drake devolves into sobbing about how worried he was and thinking she was hurt, and the princess holds a hoof against his back.

I think I hear Bon-Bon sniffle in tears at this scene. I can’t help be feel sympathy as well. The drake reminds me of my sister when she’s not being an ass.

The reunion is cut short by another tremor that rips through the earth and another wave of dirt splatters across everyone. Everypony looks over and sees another crater formed in the ground just a short ways away from Twilight’s. There’s a figure that moves in the dust. Princess Twilight approaches the crater horn glowing with violent magic. The dust settles, and everyone gasps when they see Princess Celestia, hunched down in the dirt, blood and scorch marks draped across her body.

Everyone stares in disbelief. Even I’m shocked to see our most powerful ruler in such a state. Celestia struggles to stand. She quickly takes stock of the dozens of horrified expression staring at her and addresses them all with a waving hoof and calm smile.

The wave of relief that washes over the crowd is tangible. The citizens begin bowing toward their ruler. Bon-Bon does so as best she can without dropping me, and I do the closest thing to bowing I can while slung over her back. Princess Twilight begins to bow too but stands up at the last moment.

Celestia beams up at us all. Then a third shockwave hits right behind her. Celestia is thrown forward, but manages to catch her balance and turns back with a violent glow surrounding her horn. The dust settles, a massive figure begins to emerge. Ponies scream as the hulking black demon comes into view. It crouches low to the ground, and yet still towers three stories over the princess. It stares down at her with swirling fiery eyes, and between its grinning jaws lays Grand Master Luna, her hooves hanging limp, and her head bobbing ever so slightly with the faintest signs of life.

The aggressive light surrounding Princess Celestia’s horn instantly fades. She stands stone still, staring up silently at her unconscious sister. The demon chuckles and spits Luna out into its claw.

“This has been an extraordinary game you’ve played Celestia, but I grow bored. Either start cooperating with me, or I shall begin playing a game of my own. I warn you though, my games are of a much more intimate nature than yours.”

It holds Luna upside down in its grip then raises her up to its snout and takes a loud snorting sniff between her legs.

The crowd screams in horror. Bon-Bon jerks beneath me and I need to wrap my hoof around her neck to stop her from going on a suicide charge. Celestia’s horn lights up once again with burning magical light.

“Release her this instant or swear by all heaven I’ll—”

“Do what?” the demon chides. “Sick your indomitable elements of harmony on me?”

It lifts Luna’s legs up to its face again, making an elegant smirk like its sniffing the scent from a wine glass. I can hear Bon-Bon grinding her teeth. I’m almost tempted to let her charge, but I know that’ll end with her flattened into the ground.

“Your one trump card is miles away in some tiny farming village, doubtlessly fellating the importance of being there for friends when they need you most.”

Princess Twilight’s bent wing furls aggressively.

“Meanwhile, your best efforts against me have only succeeded in granting me some mild titillation. It was exciting for a time, but I’m beyond erect at this point and aching for release. So I offer you a choice once more. Come with me, hear what I have to say, and no more harm will come to your subjects or your sister. Resist, and I will defile your sister before your very eyes, in front of all of your citizens. And if you still refuse after that, I shall peel each individual layer of skin off her body, one at a time, until she dies of shock. Then I shall incinerate all of your subjects. Make your choice. Either one will bring great pleasure to me.”

Celestia snaps her teeth shut like a dog. Everypony stares at her in haunted silence. She stares up at the demon with a fury I’ve only seen on cornered hellspawn, or unveiled cultists. The demon holds Luna up with one hand and then spreads her legs with the other. Its narrow black tongue slithers out between its pursed lips and snakes down towards the Grand Master’s legs. Celestia is visibly shaking and baring her teeth.

I hold my breath, realizing with a quiver that fighting at this point is useless.

“Stop! You win!” Celestia shouts.

I grit my teeth and shut my eyes. The Princess must have realized it too. It’s a relief to see she’s being smart, though it’s the kind of relief one gets from pulling a shard of glass out of your leg.

Her intelligence is not noticed by everyone else watching. Ponies cry and beg Celestia not to do it. The demon doesn’t say a word, only lowers the back of its claw flat against the ground allowing Celestia to step inside its open palm, and then raises her up to chest level.

Princess Twilight shoots forward, limping down the crater, screaming hysterically. “Celestia, don’t do this! We can get the elements up here! We can’t surrender!”

Celestia looks back at her with a look in her eyes that scares me more than anything, genuine fear and insecurity. “We’re not surrendering Twilight! I have to go in order to keep my subjects safe. You must take up the throne in my stead. You must lead Equestria now!”

Princess Twilight freezes in her advance, seemingly petrified by what she heard. “No. Princess, we need you! I can’t lead Equestria on my own!”

“There’s no time Twilight!”

The demon snaps its fingers and a gigantic twisting black portal appears behind it. It turns to walk through it. Princess Twilight stares at the hulking beast and clenches her tearful eyes shut. When she opens them again they’re glowing a pure ethereal white.

“No! I won’t let this happen!”

Her voice echoes and massive swirling tendrils of light encircle her horn, fragments of magic so powerful they suck the breath from my lungs. Ponies around us either step back in awe or cheer in delight. The demon looks back at her expressionless.

“I’ll defend Equestria, and I’ll defend yo—”

There’s a venomous sound, the bellow of death. The demon’s eyes pulse with twisting hellish flame. Princess Twilight falls to the ground, her chest jerking and limbs flailing like she’s having a seizure.

“Twilight!” Celestia almost jumps down to her, but the demon curls its claws to form a cage.

“Calm yourself,” the demon says. “She will survive, though I foresee many sleepless nights for that one, for more than one reason.”

The monster howls laughter like cracking lightning, then turns back toward the portal. “Come, we have a celebration to prepare.”

Bon-Bon, as well as all the other soldiers, guards, and agents alike, watch with tightened hooves as the monster vanishes into the darkness with Princess Celestia and Luna. My gaze is turned down toward the bottom of the crater. There, jerking and rolling in the hard soil, being attended to by Chaplain Derpy and several civvie doctors, our de facto leader and Princess writhes. The student Celestia herself chose to be her successor.

I look back up at the portal, desperate to ask when she was supposed to take up her own throne, but Celestia is already gone. The portal fades and behind it Canterlot burns.