Night’s laser focus vision was only on moving straight ahead. While she was still torn on what she needed to do, she knew the costs if she did not get there in time. Unfortunately, it was what she did not know that came to bite her in the flank. She did not know the strain it was putting on her sister.

“Princess Night, you might want to slow down a little.” Fey Light said. Night looked over at the captain, confused as to what the problem was. He was fighting a little to stay in the air, but with the speed they were moving, that was to be expected. A nod from his head to his right drew her attention. When Night looked in that direction, she saw the problem. The problem came from the most surprising source, her sister.

Aurora looked to be in pain, she was keeping up just fine but one of her hooves was at her stomach, and she was breathing heavily. There was obvious discomfort on the mare’s face. Night slowed all three of them down, slowly, gradually; she landed them on one of the rocks. When her sister figured out they were stopping, she gave Night a look of thanks for the impromptu break.

Of course, her mouth said something different. “Why are we stopping? We should keep going.”

“I would, but my magic is getting used up, I need to rest for a minute before we head out.” Night lied.

“Oh, well make it quick. We don’t have time for this.” Aurora took this opportunity to lay down on the rocks. She would never say anything but she needed this rest more than she cared to admit. Night did a quick scan of Aurora and was instantly relieved to know the baby was fine. It had just been an issue of really bad cramps.

“Will do.” Night said with a smile.

Aurora looked up at Night, a small smile on her face as she returned her gratitude for this rest. Despite what the words said, they both knew the real reason why they had rested. Aurora was grateful to keep her dignity and for her sister’s kindness. However, the stakes were too high for this. She could not be the cause of ponies dying. “You should go on without us. We’ll only slow you down.”

Night’s head snapped back, she glared at Aurora. “No.”

“No? But Night-”

“No buts, Aurora. I’m not leaving you this close to the Dragon Kingdom on your own, or with him.” She gestured her head to the griffin. “I promised Icarus I would keep you safe. I will keep you safe until I return you to him, unharmed. The only way I can do that is by keeping you close by.”

“That’s selfish, someone could really get hurt.”

“Little sister’s prerogative, I can be a little selfish if I want to.” Night said with no small amount of confidence in her voice.

Aurora just stared on Night; right then, at that moment, she realized how strong Night was, how confident she had become. ‘When had that happen? When did my little sister become so… so… so much more? How did I miss it?’

“Thanks.” Aurora said with a smile. She was so proud of her sister that she could not find the words.

“Don’t mention it.” Night said with a smile. She walked up and lay next to her sister, pressing their coats together.

“Have you given any more thought about what you’re going to do… about Ataxia I mean?” Aurora asked her sister the million-bit question. She still could not believe that Night would actually strip away the mare’s power.

“It’s all I’ve been thinking about, Aurora. I know what I can do but…”

“Why is there a but, princess? You said it yourself; you can just command her power to leave her. Just do that.” Fey Light spoke up, suddenly very interested in their conversation.

“Captain, shouldn’t you be watching the perimeter or something?” Aurora said with a snarky tone in her voice. A little mad that he would intrude like that on her personal conversation.

Night just laughed. “It’s not that black and white captain, I don’t even know if it will work for the first part. Sure, he said I could do it, but saying something and doing it are two separate things. In addition, it would be taking away her identity, everything that made her, her. I read the personal reports about when Tirek took away everypony's magic, it left them… less. Nopony was quite right afterwards. She would have to live like that, just a shadow of her former self, forever. Assuming it worked at all.”

“Speaking of that; how does that work anyway?” Aurora asked. Her curiosity was piqued at her sister’s newfound powers. “Can you just take away anypony’s magic? Could you take away Twilight’s magic?”

Night laughed, “Somehow, I doubt it. To be honest, you know as much as I do about the way it works. I was able to strip the Titan of its magic last year, but as far as taking away mom’s magic. I don’t think it would be that easy, mom is really, really powerful. Not that I would ever do that anyway.” Night added the last part, a little offended at the mere suggestion of having to do something like that. Even with the whole ‘Twilight Night’ situation last year, she doubted she could ever bring herself to try something like that against Twilight.

“I don’t know, princess. To me it seems obvious what you have to do; I don’t understand the hesitation. The sooner we get there, the sooner you can just end this. Sure, she might be a shadow of what she once was, but it would stop all of this. You would save the mare you love, she would still be alive, and you would prevent anyone else from dying in the process. Obviously I’m biased towards that last part.” Fey gestured to his charge; the empress sitting next to her.

“Whenever someone tells you there is an easy answer to something, Fey, they’re just trying to sell you something. There are no easy answers, there are always consequences. Some we cannot hope to foresee. She… Ataxia, she might hate me forever for doing something like that to her. I don’t know if I can…” Night trailed off, unsure just what she would do if that happened. She had finally admitted her feelings to herself and others. In doing so, she made them real; she made them something precious to her, if those were now rejected, if those feeling were lost….

Yes, she admitted the truth, she now fully understood all the millions of messages her body and heart had been sending her this entire time. She carried them in her heart, as one would carry precious family gems, if those feelings were lost to her now, if they were broken, or destroyed, or stolen? It would break her heart.

She took a great risk, with great risk comes great gain. However, with such a great risk comes the opportunity for great pain as well. She did not know what she would do if she had her heart broken like that.

“I still have to disagree, princess. To me it seems like the lesser of two evils. Even if your marefriend hates you for it, wouldn’t you rather that then everyone you care about die arou-“

“Captain! Go watch the perimeter, now!” Aurora shouted. She never once imagined the captain would ever speak out like this, not to her and especially not to her sister.

“No, it’s ok Aurora. I need to hear this; I need to hear all opinions on the matter. At the rate we can fly we should be then in less than an hour. I need to go over this in my head.”

“What’s to go over, princess? You know what needs to be done, do it!” Fey shouted.

“That’s it Fey, get away from us, now!” Aurora stood to her hooves, she still felt a little cramped but she would not put up with his behavior any longer.

Fey Light just looked at her, confused on how this even became an argument. However, his training took over instantly. He snapped a salute. “Yes, empress.” Fey flew off to the perimeter. Going back to a rather pointless guard duty, with only moonlight to see by, none of them expected him to see anything, or provide any real forwarding for that matter.

“What was that about?” Night asked her sister.

“I don’t know, he’s new, but I’ve never seen him speak out like that before. I’ll talk with Icarus about him; maybe he was promoted too soon…”

“When did he join you anyway? I’ve tried to get a read on him, but it’s impossible. Every time I think I have him figured out he… well he just seems like a blank slate. It’s actually a little disconcerting.”

“I know what you mean; he came to us about three days ago actually. Icarus was really impressed when the stories of his deed reached his ears.”

“Is it standard practice to promote someone so new to such an important position? I would tend to think you would want someone who has been there for a while. Three days is a little nuts.”

“That’s what I thought too, but the losses we’ve suffered from him really wiped out most of our troops and the ones that were left were ill suited to take command of anything that important.”

Night shrugged, she still did not like it, or was that simply because she did not like him? Truly, she did not know. Still, he had given her more to think about; as much as she did not want to, it was still needed information. She knew from Twilight’s lessons that it helped one make better decisions to have a naysayer in the group. She had enough of her own experience to know the value of an opposing opinion.

“You ready, Night?” Aurora walked around stretching her hooves. Night did a quick scan, there was still some minor cramps but she doubt they would interfere again. It must be quite a burden to carry a foal. She was glad that it was something she would not have to worry about. Provided she could save Ataxia that is. She shook that off, one way or another she would save Ataxia. The real question was if she would hate her for it.

“Yeah, let’s head out. You should call Fey back over.”

“Let’s leave him here.” Aurora said with a playful smile.

“Aurora! We can’t do that. After all, what if we need someone to feed to Ataxia so the rest of us can get away?” Both sisters started laughing at that. Fey Light felt a sudden chill go down his spine.

………………………………………

It was gold. Everywhere she looked her vision was nothing but the color gold. She did not really like gold; she liked blue. Although, she supposed it was better than black, black sucked. She decided that she could forgive gold, for now.

Even though it was the wrong color, it was still warm and welcoming. She pressed her muzzle into the gold, enjoying the warmth. She could feel something else through the color gold. A rapid bumping was emanating from behind the gold. She did not know why, but she really liked that beating. It seemed to bring a smile to her face like no other.

She could hear it as well as feel it. She would never mistake that noise for as long as she lived. It was Rainbow’s heartbeat. It may be going a mile a minute, but she had listened to it so many nights she would know it from anywhere. She could not explain it, but it had its own, unique rhythm to it; a rhythm like no other.

Twilight closed her eyes and just lost herself in the warmth and the beating of that heart. She had no idea what had happened or why she was wrapped up in Rainbow’s grasp, but, at that moment, she could not bring herself to care. She cooed softly in her wife’s grip.

Rainbow slowly opened her wings. She looked down at the purple alicorn in her grasp. She did not have time to think, she did not have time to warn Twilight about anything. On reflexes alone, she just acted. In a split second, Rainbow grabbed Twilight and blasted right through the roof. She had wrapped her wife in her hoof and taken her to safety. As soon as they were outside, she wrapped her in her wings to cover her from the heat. It had been instinctual for her. In much the same way one’s first instinct would have been to seek cover, hers was her wife’s safety.

“Twi, you ok?” Rainbow asked the alicorn in her grip. Twilight slowly opened her eyes. The gold was replaced with the darkness of the sky; the Night air came in and took away the warmth. Her eyes settled on the magenta eyes of her wife. Looking into those eyes always brought a smile to her face.

“Rainbow, what… what happened?”

Rainbow did not even need to look to see what had happened; she had deduced the possibility before it even happened. “Ataxia, she traced your magic, Twi. As soon as she got a lock on your location, she attacked it with her fire. I… I barely got you out in time.” It was true; she had literally made it by a hair’s breadth. Only the magic surrounding Rainbow had protected her from the extreme heat.

Twilight looked down. The building they were hiding in, the building they were just in, it was gone, just… gone. Completely incinerated along with the entire block it had belonged too. She gripped her wife even tighter as she realized just how close to death they had come. “I… I didn’t know she could do that.” She said. Her plan, her calculations did not include Ataxia having access to higher forms of magic. She had assumed that Ataxia was limited to relatively simple, albeit powerful spells, not advanced ones. It was an easy mistake to make.

Rainbow just nodded, it was easy to underestimate Ataxia, to think she was just a mindless creature of hate attacking everyone, or to think she had no other abilities to deploy. Rainbow had personally seen her adapt to maneuvers and tricks like no other. “I know what you mean, how do you think I lost this?” Rainbow held up her missing hoof to emphasize her point. “She’s not just a mindless beast attacking us; she has magic and the will to use it. We need to out think her; we need to always stay one step ahead of her. If we don’t… well, you’ve seen the results of that.”

Twilight just nodded at her wife’s words. Just then, the two of them heard a war cry coming from down below. They both looked down and saw Icarus charging Ataxia head on. It was obvious that the fool was about to get himself killed.

“Rainbow, go!”

“On it!”

Rainbow let her wife fly on her own and zoomed down. She scooped up the griffin before he even knew what had happened. His awareness was of a huge dragacorn that had just killed his stepparents and then those very parents appearing before him. It was a little perplexing to say the least. “Am… am I dead?”

Rainbow just laughed. Twilight figured it was a pretty fair question, all things considered. He had just charged straight at someone who was more than capable of killing him. “No Icarus, you’re not dead. You were about to be. What were you thinking?” Twilight asked, a little angry that the griffin would risk his life on some foolhardy charge like that, especially with a foal on the way.

“Wait… so you two aren’t dead?” Icarus looked behind him at the golden pegasus that was carrying him. Rainbow shook her head no. When he stared back at twilight, she did the same. That was all the confirmation he needed. He knew Rainbow might be bucking with him, but Twilight would never joke about something like that.

He thought about their question and found himself laughing at just what thought process led him to that course of action. “I… I thought she had killed you. I… I figured I would stand a better chance against Ataxia than I would trying to explain what happened to Aurora.” It felt a little silly to say, still, that did not make it not true.

Twilight’s eyes went wide at that, somehow, the mare succeeded in holding in her laughter. Rainbow had no such luck. The mare let Icarus go and started laughing her head off.

Icarus caught himself mid fall and looked back. Rainbow Dash, the fastest mare on the planet, and one of the most dangerous ponies in existence, was laughing like a school filly that just made her first fart joke. The sight of her, the absurdity of the whole situation, plus the realization at what he just said, it all added up and caused him to start laughing as well.

Not even Twilight could hold back for long, she joined their chuckling session. They continued that way until Ataxia ended it. The dragacorn could not yet fly, Siros’s Vengeance had made mincemeat of her wings, and the magic that made up the blade somehow interfered with her healing, slowing it to a crawl. However, she did still have her dragon fire. Something she took the opportunity to remind her opponents of.

When Ataxia spewed a truant of flame up at the ponies that were ignoring her, Rainbow saw it first. She went to grab Twilight and Icarus to fly them to safety. Her mistake was forgetting about her missing right hoof. She had grabbed Twilight, but Icarus had been on her right side. She grabbed at nothing without any chance to correct.

Still, Icarus was no slouch; he was just nowhere near as fast. Icarus managed to avoid most of the attack, but some of his feathers caught light from simply being too close to the flame. Twilight saw it and teleported the griffin to them. Rainbow stamped out the burning ones the best she could. It would not do for the griffin to be grounded.

“That was close.” Icarus said.

Twilight thought it was a little bit closer than that. Icarus had gotten off lucky as far as she was concern. After Rainbow finished inspecting the damage, she patted him on the shoulder. “Sorry about that, forgot…” She held up her missing hoof.

“No worries…” Icarus replied. He could not exactly blame her for that. It was his failing for not being faster, not Rainbow’s for saving her wife first.

“You thought Aurora would be mad about us dying, let me tell you something, you would have gotten off light compared to me having to explain that I let her husband get killed.” Rainbow teased. She turned around and looked at her wife. “Twi, what’s the game plan? And don’t say it’s for me to go get Night, I’m not leaving you two with her. Not after what almost happened.”

“That ship has sailed. We’ll all be needed to deal with Ataxia.”

“Well, we know at least one attack that will slow her down.” Icarus gestured to his spear. “Rainbow has her speed… Twilight, I know you don’t have all your magic, but you can still prove to be very useful.”

“You got a plan Twi? Let’s, hear it already?” Rainbow poked her wife in the side.

Twilight simply shrugged, her mind begun playing through many, many different possibilities in her mind. All the possibilities she had considered the last few days. Her mind quickly shot down every one of them. She ran the numbers in her head, they would all slow her down, but that was about it. She had no long-term solution to this problem. “I have a few ideas, but nothing certain to work. Rainbow, I… I don’t know.” There was an air of desperation in her voice. Twilight was struggling to put something together, to have some sort of plan. Her mind instantly shot down every idea she thought of. A realization hit her, they would be lucky to last the night, never mind lasting long enough for Night to get back. Twilight had no idea what to do. She looked up at Rainbow’s eyes, seeking some form of reissuance that everything might be all right.

For the first time in years, Rainbow wanted to look away. In that gaze, coming from the same one she had known for most of her life. She saw only defeat. Twilight did not know what to do, and it scared her. Only a few times ever had Rainbow seen this look in her wife.

Rainbow knew what to do.

Rainbow flew next to her; she placed her one hoof on Twilight’s cheek, and kissed her. She poured everything she had into that kiss, allowing Twilight to know that there was still something out there; there was still something worth fighting for. Twilight’s eyes went wide at first, the unexpected intimacy shocked her; slowly, she closed her eyes, enjoying the comfort it brought.

After what felt like an eternity, Rainbow pulled away. The look that Twilight had on her face was gone, replaced with one that could only be summed up in one word: Bliss. When Twilight opened her eyes, Rainbow spoke. “Remember egghead, it’s not all on you. Don’t act like you have to do everything; that you have to plan everything. I’m here for you, we’re all here for you. We always will be too.”

“Thanks, Rainbow.” Twilight blushed; she had almost let her own worries get the better of her, almost.

“Is that Radiant?” Icarus asked, gesturing with his weapon at the pony who was trying to get their attention. He had looked away when they started in. It did not feel right to watch such a tender moment between his stepparents, and as much as he did not want to interrupt, this might be important.

Rainbow looked down at where he was pointing. Sure enough, Radiant was waving frantically at the three of them. “Keep an eye on Ataxia, Icarus.”

“Sure.” Icarus had already been keeping an eye on the dragacorn; while they were high enough up to avoid her flame, he was weary of another attack out of the blue like the one that had almost cost him his life. Rainbow and Twilight flew down to find out where their nephew had been.

“Where were you?” Rainbow started in. “I told you to hurry back, that I would need your help!”

“I know, and I’m sorry, it’s Luna, I had to get her to the hospital.”

“She’s… she’s alive?” Rainbow asked. It was the first good news they heard all day.

“Well, she’s still breathing, that’s all I can tell you for sure. Rainbow… what happened to your hoof, and why are you gold?” Radiant asked the question he could no longer keep to himself.

“Never mind that, I’ll explain everything when we finish this. For now, we need to get back in the fight; Ataxia will be fully healed any minute now.”

“Minutes up!” Icarus shouted as he flew down to the three. As if to emphasize his point, Ataxia choice that moment to let out a mighty roar as she flapped her freshly healed wings and took to the air.

Rainbow looked up at the huge dragacorn, without looking back at the other three, she said. “Radiant, Icarus, let’s get going.”

“What about me?” Twilight asked. Confused about why Rainbow would leave her out of this.

Rainbow turned to look at her wife. “Stay here. See if there is anything you can do for Luna. Keep everyone safe, including yourself.”

“And what? Watch you risk your life while I sit on the sidelines, I don’t think so.” Twilight balked at the idea of being forced to the sidelines while her wife risked her life, again.

“Twi, I lost my hoof because the hospital was at risk. I… I almost lost you when she destroyed the building we were just in. What do you think would happen to me if I were worried about you the entire time? I need to be able to concentrate on this fight, to focus only on her, if I worried about what you were doing I… I couldn’t do that.”

“So I’m the only one who gets to worry? What about that?”

Rainbow did not have an answer for that. Yet she knew; deep down, that if Twilight fought, it would see one of them killed. She could handle dying, but not losing her wife. It might be a little selfish but it was still the truth. “Stay here.” The finality in her voice ended the conversation.

“Promise me you’ll come back.” Twilight said with tears in her eyes.

Rainbow smiled at her, she flew over to her wife and kissed her one more time, then took off in the air, heading straight for Ataxia. Icarus followed suit with Radiant running up behind them. Twilight only stared on in utter dismay.

‘She didn’t promise.’

………

Firestar cursed her lot in life. She cursed being bedridden during this crisis, she cursed Radiant for leaving like he had, even if she had agreed that he go… she cursed whoever designed this bucking room that failed to put in a bucking bigger window so she could see what the buck was going on.

Her knowledge of the fight had come from explosions, loud shouting, and earth shaking pounding. The only clue that they were even still fighting was that the noises kept coming. That knowledge did not make it any easier to bear. She considered, for the millionth time that night, just getting out of the damn bed.

She held still, even if she did that, all that would happen is the death of her foals. She would still be incapable of helping. The doctors would have to come in and knock her out; they would have to operate on her to try to heal the damage it would cause. Regardless what she did, she could not help anyone tonight. Not even her husband. It would cause far, far more issues to try. There was only one word for her right now; it was a word she never wanted to have associated with her in her entire life: Liability.

When Radiant had briefly come back, the news he brought back about how the fight was going was on the wrong side of hilarious. Thinking about it caused Firestar to realize that she was still mad at him for the stitches down his flank. Sometime during the fight, Ataxia had gotten a good cut on his side. It exposed the muscle, and almost the bone. The doctors had wanted him to stay put, they warned his dumb flank that if he went back outside it would reopen the stitching and he might bleed out.

A magic sword to their neck ended that conversation once and for all. She still owed him for that; he threatened a doctor’s life with a blade for trying to talk some sense in him. When Firestar had done that very same thing, albeit with a scalpel and not a magically conjured blade, he had lectured her for hours. Telling her that he was disappointed in her.

Yes, she would totally get him back for that one.

Looking around, at least it was not all bad. She had some company during this crisis. At her request, the doctors had brought in Princess Cadance so she would not have to be alone.

“He really is an idiot, isn’t he?” Cadance asked her daughter-in-law. She had remained quiet during his report, not having anything to contribute to the conversation herself.

Firestar looked over at the princess. She was stuck in a bed just like her. When Ataxia hit her, it threw her into a building, that impact with the building had broken her spine in three different places. She was only awake because there had been no need for anesthesia, she could not feel anything anyway, so she told them not to put her to sleep. If this was going to be her last night on this world, if ponies she loved were going to die, she wanted to be awake for it. It was the least she could do. They were able to reset the bones, but there was nothing they could do for the nerve damage. She would forever be a cripple.

Well, not forever. Firestar knew that Twilight would be able to heal it when she got better… better being when she had her foal. However, that was a moot point right now. The situation on the battlefield was dire to say the least. Ataxia was unstoppable. Their most powerful attacks could only slow her down for a few minutes at best. That realization… it was enough to make you lose hope.

That is when the big idiot had come in to show that no matter what happens, you cannot kill hope. He told them both that Luna was still alive. Alive being a relative term in this case, it was far more accurate to say that she was still living. The doctors told him that she was in a coma, the damage she suffered was extreme… her own horn blowing up, Firestar did not even know it was a possibility. She had never heard of a unicorn suffering the loss of his or her own horn. The pain must have been intense.

“Yeah, he is.” Firestar answered Cadance’s question.

It did not take much to know that something was bothering Cadance, she soon gave voice to just what that was. “Why… why did you let him go out like that, just to save me?” Cadance looked over at her daughter-in-law. It had not been part of the plan, Radiant was supposed to keep the shield up at all costs. Even if that cost included the lives of Luna and Cadance.

“Because he never would have forgiven himself if he did nothing while you died. He would have hated himself the rest of his life, and eventually, that hate would be directed at me for making him stay.” Firestar looked down at her hooves. Tears began forming in her eyes before she even realized it, but as much as she did not want to say it, her mouth would not stop speaking the truth, truth even she had not been aware of. “I’m strong; I have been all my life. I know it makes me look like a bitch, I know what others say about me, don’t try to deny it.” Firestar cut off Cadance before she could interrupt.

“I… I can deal with a lot, heck; I have dealt with a lot. I am… was, the best of the best. I became the Wonderbolt’s captain. I did it all with my mom pushing me harder and faster than any of the other Wonderbolts. They all knew that, they all knew that she was harder on me than any of the others. Some even tried to speak to her about it, to try and convince her to go easy on me, at least once.”

“Yet she didn’t, and I rose to it, I met every challenge head on, never once stopping. It left me hard, I know, I can feel it just as much as everyone else can see it. Yet… there is one thing I cannot do, one thing that would be too painful for me to ever deal with. I could deal with losing him, I know it would be hard, but I… I could go on…. I just… I just couldn’t deal with him hating me.” Firestar broke down into tears.

Cadance used her magic and teleported herself next to her stepdaughter. She had no doubt that the doctors would be mad about it, as it removed her from several straps they had her attached to in bed, no doubt to keep her spine straight after they had reset it. However, at that moment, she did not care. Firestar's confession had broken her heart, so Cadance employed royal privilege on this one.

She grabbed ahold of Firestar’s head and pressed her muzzle into her coat. Firestar cried out into her fur. “It’s ok, it’s ok, and you have nothing to worry about. He might be an idiot but he’s not that big of an idiot. I know for a fact he could never hate you.” Cadance lightly stroked Firestar’s mane, it amazed her just how well kept it was. It felt as smooth as silk to the princess.

After a few moments passed, Firestar looked up into Cadance’s eyes. Cadance smiled back, if she were being a little honest with herself, she was jealous that her son found someone so beautiful... so, perfect. “I never did thank you, did I?” Firestar said.

“For what?”

“For making him go out with me… I know you told him he had to; I don’t think I ever said thanks for that.”

Cadance just laughed. “There is nothing to thank me for; all I did was give him a little push in the right direction. Besides, it wasn’t like an order. I just informed him that I would very much appreciate it if he escorted a fine young mare like yourself around town. He could deny it to himself all he wanted, but I could feel the spark between you too; I knew that if he simply got over that one hurdle you two would be perfect for each other.”

“Wait… so you never… you know, with your magic?” Firestar tapped the tip of Cadance’s horn to illustrate her point.

Cadance shook her head, “Not then, besides, my magic doesn’t work that way, it merely helps those who already have that spark, it can’t create it.” It was a common misconception.

Firestar hugged her tighter, she felt safe in Cadance’s hooves. “Well, thank you anyway.”

“Dear one, it is I who should be thanking you. I was so worried about Radiant. I knew his father’s death affected him, but I never knew how much… not until I saw him with you. When he’s with you, I see the colt he once was again. You saved him from himself. For that alone, I’m the one who owes you everything.”

The two stayed like that for a while, Cadance slowly stroking Firestar’s mane. She had stopped crying but neither of them wanted to let the other go. While they put on a brave face, they both knew, under the surface that they were worried about the fates of those they loved. Radiant, Twilight, Rainbow, even Icarus, they were all out there risking their lives to try to save everypony.

Worse yet, the one that threatened them so, she was a friend too. Neither of them wanted to hear about her death any more than the others. It would be too tragic, too cruel if Rarity and Spike’s only daughter had to be killed. Assuming they could even do that much.

…......

Rainbow dodged, dipped, ducked, dived, and dodged. She flew over and under everything Ataxia threw her way. Her task was simple, keep Ataxia’s attention focused on her, and keep her angry. All the while Icarus would do the real damage and Radiant would stay in back up, ready to jump in when Ataxia finally caught on to their ploy. It was roles they simply fell into, none of them had to communicate with the others.

Logically, it was their smartest play… well… it was their only play. They would not be able to keep it up forever, eventually; Ataxia would tire of this game and do something different, something unexpected. That was the part that bothered Rainbow more than anything else did. Ataxia was adaptable; worse, as far as Rainbow could tell, she was also unbeatable, and unstoppable.

It was easy to lose hope, yet Rainbow refused. She stayed in the moment, concentrating only on what was happening right in front of her. In a lot of ways, it was too easy… boring even. With this power, Ataxia never had a hope of catching her. Her peripheral vision told her the consequences of such thoughts, of letting her boredom or showmanship get the better of her. Rainbow’s lost limb, served as a grave reminder that Ataxia was not to be trifled with in such a manner. If she dropped her guard, if Rainbow let herself get distracted, then it would all be over.

They had to be on their game the entire time, Ataxia only had to get lucky once. It was a chilling realization to say the least. It was made even worse by the fact that if Rainbow messed up, she would not be the only one to pay the price. Radiant and Icarus’s deaths would soon follow her own. Then Twilight, Firestar, Cadance, and Luna would die. With so much on the line, she refused to fail. She made a silent promise to herself that she would succeed. Regardless of what it took.

Rainbow saw it before it happened, Icarus lashed out once more after Rainbow created a sonic rainboom right in front of Ataxia’s eyes. The action blinded the mare to his attack. He cut off Ataxia’s back legs with one fell swoop from Siros’s Vengeance. The dragacorn collapsed in the dirt, her wings far to shredded to keep her standing up.

She roared in rage as the chaos magic began the arduous project of trying to rebuild the leg. It still had yet to adapt to the magic of Icarus’s weapon. Rainbow knew it would never have a chance to either, not as long as they did not make the mistake of killing her with it.

Something Icarus looked ready to do. Icarus roared a battle cry as he jumped on Ataxia’s belly and lashed out with his spear repeatedly, each blow cut deep into the dragacorn’s body. His rage had overtaken him; his thoughts had gone to a bad place over the course of the fight, almost losing Rainbow and Twilight like that had filled his head with images of this creature in Warclaw. Of her standing over his dead wife…. Icarus made up his mind in that instant. He no longer cared that it was not part of the plan, he wanted to see this monster dead and was intent on doing whatever it took to see that come to pass. Radiant ran out to stop him while Rainbow flew down to get a grip on the situation, literally.

“Icarus, stop!” Radiant yelled.

“No, this is our chance! We’ve got to put an end to this once and for all!” Icarus yelled back, he pulled out the blade and went to make another cut. He lashed down again before realizing that he was no longer holding it. The spear had disappeared from his claw.

He instantly knew that only one thing could have happened to it. “Rainbow, give it back, now!” He glared at the golden mare that held his father’s namesake in her mouth. Rainbow spit it out, letting it fall to the ground, unceremoniously.

Rainbow turned to Radiant and said, “Keep her busy.” He simply nodded and went to the most dangerous part of this creature, her head. He knew that Ataxia was wounded and exhausted, but he also knew she would not stay that way. Still, Rainbow needed time to talk some sense into Icarus, he could buy her that much.

Rainbow began covering dirt over the weapon, Icarus got even angrier at that. “What do you think you’re doing?! That’s my father’s namesake!”

“What? I’m just doing what you did; you treated it like shit so I’m burying it as such.”

“What? I never!”

“What vow did you make when you picked it up?” Rainbow looked him square in the eye as she asked him the question. Her expression was one that demanded an answer from the griffin.

“I vowed I would do my father's name justice and would never raise it up in anger, only to defend those I love.” Icarus said the words; it was a kneejerk reaction. Something he could not stop himself from saying.

“Exactly, you treated it like shit, so that’s what it became.”

“I never! It’s exactly what he would do! It was justice!”

“You little shit.” Rainbow got mad at that. “Your father would NEVER attack someone like that; he would never hurt someone who was a friend. You think you do his name justice? Don’t make me laugh.”

“We have to end this Rainbow, it’s the only way. There’s nothing else we can do!”

“Oh really? First thing, you’re telling me you’ve tried everything, EVERYTHING else?” Icarus shook his head at that; he could not lie even if he wanted to, not at this moment. “No? I didn’t think so. Your father would never resort to such tactics until all other options were exhausted. Secondly, what in hades makes you think it would even kill her, nothing we do lasts, she regenerated from every attack we’ve made. Even from this spear. You think killing her with it will put her down for good?! What in the world gave you that idea? All it would do is guarantee that we lost. We would lose the only thing we have that can actually wound her, the only thing that can actually slow her down!”

“I… I…”

“You, you what?”

“It might work.” Icarus said defensively. He could not argue with her logic, but logic had not really played a part in his decision.

“Yeah, you’re right, it might.” Rainbow shook her head. She reached down and picked up the spear. With a quick toss she threw it over to Icarus, he caught it with well-practiced ease. “I tell you what; do the memory of your old man proud. If you honestly think he would do that, if you honestly believe he would kill someone in cold blood because it might solve the problem. Do it, but remember; you’re the one who made the vow. It’s on your head, on your claws. When you hold my daughter's foal for the first time, you had better be able to look yourself in the mirror in the morning knowing that you upheld your vow. Otherwise, you’re not worthy of the honor.”

Icarus gripped the spear tighter in his claws. To say he had mixed feelings was an understatement. The spear worked, it could cut Ataxia with the ease it cut everything else. On top of that, it slowed her regeneration, her wounds did not heal as fast as they would with anything else, he could save his wife, he could save everyone, he just had to do enough damage, and he might be able to kill her.

It was the might part that held him back.

On the other claw, Rainbow was right, it was not what his dad would do, and he would never condone such violence against another, not unless it was absolutely necessary. He knew Ataxia; she was fun, possibly even a friend. He… he had made a vow, a vow to do his dad’s name justice. That is why the spear carried his name. It was a tool to protect not to kill, not in such a manner.

Rainbow was right; he had treated his father’s namesake like shit.

Icarus hung his head low; he had almost broken his vow. It did not matter if he might be able to end this, if he could not live with himself after, what would be the point. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” Icarus finally said the words.

“Hey, we all do dumb things from time to time, I don’t hold it against you and neither should you. You simply… lost your way. Just like her.” They both turned to Ataxia; Radiant was doing an impressive job of keeping her busy. He lashed out with attacks of his own from every direction he was not. His attacks made her spend energy that she could have otherwise put to use healing herself on wasteful counter attacks.

It would not last long, sooner or later, she would regain her vision, as well as her ability to stand, and fly for that matter. When that happened, Radiant did not have a shred of hope to keep her occupied, much less to survive whatever it would be that she did to him. “We should get back in it.” Rainbow said with a small smile.

Icarus lifted his spear. “Sorry dad, I almost lost it there for a minute.”

“There’s the griffin that won my daughter’s heart.”

Icarus laughed at that. If he were being honest with himself, truly honest, he never fully believed he had Aurora’s heart. She was… perfect in every way, while he had more flaws than he cared to admit. He was just something she wanted right now; Icarus fully suspected there would come a time when she would leave him. Having moved on to someone better, he did not even begrudge her that, he was merely thankful for every moment he got with her. “I didn’t win anything, she takes what she wants. Aurora could have anyone.”

Rainbow wanted to slap him silly for that comment, she settled for cuffing him over the head with a hoof. “Icarus, you’re right about one thing, my daughter could’ve had any one she wanted to. Money and fame don’t matter to her any more than dresses really matter to me. Always remember, she wanted you, of all the ponies, griffins, zebras, and minotaurs in the world, she married you. You may not believe it, you may not even see it, but you have a place in her heart, a place I know many a stallion and mare would love to occupy. Never doubt your own self-worth. Because, to her, you’re the one she wanted. That alone should tell you what your true value is.”

He thought about it for a minute, still a little unsure. Rainbow knocked him over on his side with a quick head-butt. “Hey!”

“Stop it; you can trust me on this one. If you don’t, I’ll tell Aurora that you doubted her.”

That threat gave him pause. “You… you wouldn’t!”

“Consider it a promise.”

Rainbow had him dead to rights on that one. It was one fight he did not want to get into, he knew Aurora would eat him alive if she found out how that he doubted her like that. “Ok.”

Rainbow flew up in the air. “C’mon, we still got a fight to get back too.”

At that moment, Ataxia opened her eyes. “Rainbow!” Radiant shouted.

“Aim for the eyes, keep her blinded, keep her guessing!” Rainbow called out behind her, she did not need to look back to know that Icarus would be following her. She was confident that the griffin had heard every word. Indeed he had, there was just one little problem. He was not the only one that heard it.

Ataxia heard it too.

She let it come, Rainbow and Icarus flew from behind her body and over to her head. As she suspected, Rainbow arrived first, she lashed out at Ataxia’s muzzle with her wings, scoring several hits but other than the pain, she failed to do any real damage. Ataxia’s scales more than a match for the golden wings after she had killed her with them once. Ataxia played the part, she lashed out with her left claw, but she was playing possum.

When Icarus showed up, he wasted no time going straight for the eyes. It was all for not, Ataxia had been expecting him, the griffin with the painful spear. She jerked her head back and lashed out with a sudden chomp of her teeth. Intent on eating the griffin alive and removed their last trump card from the battle.

Icarus did not see it coming. His surprise magnified a hundredfold when his attack missed. Even more so that such a large target could move so quickly. The teeth closed in to end his life once and for all.

That is exactly what it would have done, but Rainbow saw it coming. Icarus might be new to playing at sonic speeds, but Rainbow had experience with it long before she even got her golden wings. She saw Ataxia’s ploy almost too late, almost. Rainbow did a mid-air one eighty and dive-bombed the griffin out of the way. She hit him with such force that a few of his ribs cracked in his chest, but it was a necessary loss; had she not, the griffin would have been eaten on the spot, and with him gone they would have lost the only tool they still had that could hurt Ataxia. Therefore, even though she felt some bones break on contact, she still managed a smile that she had not been too late to save him.

Sadly, Rainbow may have pushed Icarus out of the way, but she did not make it herself, at least, not all of her. When the jaws closed, they caught Rainbow’s tail in them. So, she hug from Ataxia’s mouth by her tail, dangling with all the indignation that brought with it.

Radiant saw all of this, part of him wanted to bust out in laughter; he would have too, if the situation were not so dire. “You ok, Rainbow?” He called out to her. Doing his absolute best to keep a straight face and calm voice in the process, needless to say, some of it still got out.

“Me? Oh yeah, peachy!” Rainbow yelled back. She recognized the suppressed giggle anywhere. Had she been in his horseshoes, she would have been laughing her flank off. It was not so funny on the other end. “Someone get me out of here!”

Ataxia did not quite understand what had happened. She had gone to eat the one with the spear, but instead she got nothing in her mouth. Well, almost nothing, she could taste… magic. It was confusing to say the least.

“I’m coming.” Radiant called out.

Icarus got to his feet; every breath he took caused a stinging sensation in his lungs, it hurt to breathe, it hurt to stand up. Placing a claw on his side he immediately took it away, the contact only made the pain worse. He had no doubt that a few of his ribs had been broken by that hit. When he looked up, he saw the reason why the hit had been necessary. He knew that he had nearly avoided death. Well, more precisely, he had been saved from death by his step-mom.

Icarus watched as Radiant ran forward and conjured several magical blades, each of which started attacking Ataxia’s teeth. He might as well have saved his energy; her teeth were as tough as the rest of her body, stronger most likely. Worse, it was getting Ataxia’s attention. He needed to help soon, he could see that the dragacorn was confused about what was going on, but that would not last long. They had seconds at best to get Rainbow out of there before Ataxia realized what she held in her mouth and took advantage of it.

He had to save Rainbow, and quickly.

It hurt, but Icarus stood back up and flapped his wings. Somehow, even with all that had occurred he never let go of Siros’s Vengeance. The spear had stayed in his claw the entire time. Icarus liked to think that it had a life of its own. That it was more than just a weapon, that the magic that imbued it gave it its own life. Well, maybe not a life in the normal sense of the word, but that it was something that truly represented his father.

In many ways, he was right. All four alicorns of Equestria had imbued Siros’s Vengeance with their magic. Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, Princess Night, and Princess Twilight had all empowered the weapon. Three of those beings possessed magic above and beyond anything the world had ever seen before: God magic. The spear, quite literally, had no mortal created equal. Only Tartarus’s Occulous and the now destroyed Cronus’s Sickle could ever hope to give it a run for its bits.

However, even then, those weapons each had possessed their own unique properties. Each of which made them better and worse than the others. It was an unfair comparison to try to compare them to each other. After all, when comparing God weapons, you compare them to anything other than another God weapon.

The spear stayed in his claw when by all accounts it should have been dropped. It did so because it wanted to. When Icarus said the words, when he made the vow upon first picking it up, he empowered the spear with the righteousness of his deeds. As long as its wielder was fighting for the same thing, it would never fail them. It would never leave their side.

In all accounts, it truly was its namesake; he held the physical representation of Siros’s Vengeance. A weapon that became what its first wielder had wanted it to become.

Icarus tightened his grip on the spear. He would never know, but there was a reason he had been able to complete Rainbow’s training, it was the same reason he had been able to do two sonic rainbooms, fly, and fight the way he had. It had not been him. It was the spear; it had always been the spear. As long as its wielder held true righteousness in their heart, as long as they fought to protect others, it would grant them the power to fulfill that request. Unlike the Blood Oath Armor, its user did not have to pay a price for this power.

When he tightened his grip, Icarus felt strong, the bruise on his side was forgotten. He knew Radiant would never be able to break those teeth and free Rainbow. Worse, he also knew they only had seconds until Ataxia figured out that Radiant’s attacks were for a reason, because she held Rainbow, quite literally, by the tail. Once that happened, Rainbow was done for. She might be the fastest creature on the planet, but if she could not get away, that speed would be worthless. There was no doubt in Icarus’s mind that Ataxia would finish her, and the rest of them would follow. He could not let that happen, he would not let that happen.

Icarus flew at full speed, his spear aimed directly forward, directly at Ataxia’s teeth. He smashed right through each and every one in his way. The spear broke every tooth on her left and right side as the griffin went in one side of her mouth and out the other.

She roared in pain, it was one of the most excruciatingly painful injuries she had received that night. Worse, because it did not end her life, she had to suffer through all of it. Radiant did not quite understand why, but he acutely felt sorry for Ataxia.

It had accomplished the goal, as soon as the teeth holding her tail in place broke; Rainbow wasted no time in getting away. He may not have done it personally, but in a way, Emperor Siros managed to save Rainbow’s life. Icarus knew his father would have been proud of him for that.

She flew around the roaring dragacorn and up to the griffin. “What was that?”

“Sorry, I might have overdone it.”

The shocked look on her face told Icarus that they might be talking about two very different things. “What?” He asked her.

“You, you… you don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Icarus, when you attacked just now, you were surrounded by a blue energy. It seemed to be coming from the spear.” Radiant said. They both looked down; the unicorn had teleported himself on top of the building that was directly below them.

“What?”

“Icarus look.” Rainbow pointed with her one remaining hoof. Looking in that direction, Icarus saw just what she was talking about. Ataxia’s mouth was easily big enough to take a bite out of most buildings; she could swallow you whole without even realizing it. Her teeth were proportionate to her mouth, each one taller than an alicorn. They were made of the same dense bone that made up her skeleton structure. Somehow, with nothing more than a spear, Icarus had managed to destroy several teeth on each side of her mouth in one blow. It should have been physically impossible. He had not even known that was what happened.

“I… I… I… how?”

“That’s my question.” Rainbow said. She was just as shocked as Icarus was.

“Guys, we’re out of time, it’ll have to wait.” Radiant said from below them. They both turned to look; Ataxia was glaring at all three of them. A claw pressed to the side of her mouth.

“It’s coming!” Rainbow shouted.

Sure enough, Ataxia covered the area they were in with her dragon fire. In one attack, she destroyed almost an entire quarter of The Crystal Empire.

Of course, it was Rainbow that reacted first. Swooping down, she scooped up Radiant and carried him to safety. Icarus flew straight up, avoiding the worst of it yet still his fur singed some due to the extreme heat. “I think she might be mad.” Icarus joked.

“You think?” Radiant replied, carried by the one hoof golden mare.

Rainbow’s eyes were solely on the damage that attack had caused, she was very grateful that the hospital was not in that area. However, it did not change the fact that several hundred crystal ponies were now homeless. She hoped they would be able to spare the rest of the empire similar damage. Somehow, she doubted it. They would be lucky to survive themselves, saving the buildings would be a tall order any way she sliced it.

Leaving just was not an option. Assuming they could lure her away at all, it would leave Radiant out in the open, and they needed his help in this. Therefore, the buildings had to be sacrificed for the greater good. Rainbow just had to hope that Twilight would find some way to protect the hospital.

………

Twilight walked into a room full of love… and sadness. She had not known what to expect she got there. The last time she visited Firestar's room, it had been to hoof deliver some really, really bad news. Bad news that consisted of Ataxia’s impeding attack.

What she saw surprised her. Cadance and Firestar were sitting on the same bed, idly chatting with each other despite the battle going on outside. Firestar’s stomach was nicely distended now; Twilight could tell that the twins were growing big in there. She had personal experience with such things after Rainbow had become pregnant with theirs. That thought made her smile and frown all at once.

“You two are getting along nicely.” Twilight said. She did her best not to fall into melancholy over the day’s events. Needless to say, it was just a façade.

“Hey, we’ve always gotten along just fine!” Firestar complained.

“Yeah, I know, I was just being witty. Sorry, bad habit I must have picked up from Rainbow.” That comment only made Twilight sadder.

“Speaking of her, how is it going outside?” Cadance asked.

“Not good. My plan rather backfired on us. Ataxia adapted to my strategy and almost roasted Rainbow and I alive. It’s… it’s not a good situation.” Twilight head sunk down, she felt so powerless right now. True, she may still be an alicorn, however, what she needed was her full power, the power she took for granted so many times over the years. She needed Gaia’s power. With that, she could finish this right here and now.

As Twilight sat down on the bed, Cadance patted her on the head. “Hey, where’s that little filly that never had a care in the world?”

“Cadance, I’m a mom now, I’m not that little filly anymore.”

“You always will be to me. Never forget that.” Cadance smiled warmly at Twilight.

That alone seemed to be enough to brighten Twilight’s mood, she had almost forgotten what it was to be happy. It seemed like a lifetime ago before this battle started. Once again, she was forced to sit on the sidelines when Rainbow risked, and lost in the latter case, life and limb.

“How are they holding up, are they… are they alright at least?” Firestar asked the question, desperate for any new information on the fate of everyone… specifically her husband.

Twilight shook her head. “With Icarus here, they have a weapon that can actually hurt her... as long as they don’t kill her with it, that should be enough.” The ‘for now’ was left off the end of the statement, Twilight did not want to say it, and she knew they did not want to hear it.

“So, it’s good news?” Firestar asked hopefully.

“No.” Twilight shook her head again. She had not wanted to go here, but Firestar deserved to know that the odds were good none of them would see any of the ones they loved again. She had calculated the odds of Ataxia winning with this new information. That was one number she definitely did not want to say. “There’s no endgame, we have no plan to actually stop her. I’ve tried to think of something… all my tests… they all came up with nothing.” Twilight was almost sobbing now; she had spent the majority of her time running through everything she could in her head. Nothing would work. “I’m… I’m sorry.”

Cadance reached over and pressed Twilight’s head into her chest, letting her cry out into her coat. “It’s ok Twilight; we don’t expect you to solve every problem on your own.”

“But… they can’t last, eventually they’ll get tired and make a mistake. Rainbow already lost a hoof.” Twilight managed to say between sobs.

Firestar’s eyes went wide at that. She knew about the fate of Luna, but she never suspected that Rainbow of all ponies could actually get hurt, much less lose a hoof like that. “Radiant, come back to me.” She whispered in the air, hoping that her prayers would be enough to keep him safe.

“It’s not all bad right? Luna is still alive.” Cadance cooed softly into Twilight’s ear, trying desperately to cheer her up.

“For now.” Twilight replied.

“What? I thought she-“

Twilight lifted her head. “Firestar, I just got done seeing her; I can’t tell you everything because I just don’t know. My magic is just not working the way it should.” Twilight touched a hoof to her stomach. “The doctors were able to stem the bleeding and she’s stable, but her mind, it’s just gone. When her horn exploded some of the magic went inward. It went into her mind. I… I could repair it if I had my full power, but until then, she’s on her own, whether or not she survives will be all on her.”

“There’s nothing we can do? Nothing at all?” Cadance asked. There was a hopeful expression on her face.

Twilight hated that look, not because there was anything wrong with it, but because she did not want to be the one to kill it. It caused her mind to start over thinking everything that had happened. She paused on one thing, one thing that came to mind. “Well… not saying this will work or not, but maybe; just maybe Shimmering Night might be able to help her.”

It was a long shot, a million-to-one odds that she would be able to pull it off, but if she truly was the daughter of a God, it just might work with Twilight’s guidance. It would be tricky; they would have to pull the magic out of her brain while restoring her higher-level functions. Normally, it was something Twilight would insist she did alone, but that was not an option this time around. That level of magic… it was like nothing else. Still, it did offer everypony a little hope for their fallen friend.

“So, all our hopes rest on Night getting back.” Cadance said, half-joking and half-serious.

Twilight could only nod, it was a tall order to say the least, they had to hold of Ataxia and somehow keep Luna alive for however long it took for Night to get back. She wished for the millionth time that she were not pregnant. She could do all those things and more. That left a thought in her head, one she had not considered before. One that she had not wanted to consider before, but with everything on the line….

“Maybe not…” She did not want to say it.

“What do you mean?”

“Well… no, never mind.” She dismissed that idea; Rainbow would never forgive her for such an action. Twilight could handle dying, she could handle failing, but living with the love of her life hating her? That would be a new form of hell that would make her wish for death. After all, what would be the point of living if there were no one to live for?

“We’ll just have to stack the deck in our favor.” Twilight said as she got out of the bed.

“Oh, how do we do that?”

“Simple Firestar, we gather as much information that we can, the more we know the more time we can buy for Night to get back.” She hated the thought, but it was true, everything rested on Shimmering Night returning from the Dragon Kingdom soon.

“What if she doesn’t come for a few days?” Firestar asked the unspoken fear of everypony. They had no idea if she was even on her way back. That was not even including what they would have to ask her to do. The situation was dire for sure, but that still put the entire burden on her to stop… to kill Ataxia once and for all. Assuming she even could.

Twilight smiled, one that got even bigger as she realized that she meant it. “I know Night has never been the best at sensing others, but we've released so much magical energy here that there is no way she couldn't have sensed it. She would know something is happening, that something’s wrong. I know she is on her way back. I just… I just know it.”

“For an average flyer, it’s a two day flight to Warclaw…” Cadance added. “Never mind how long it will take her to get to wherever they were going in the Dragon Kingdom.”

“She’ll find a way.” Twilight said. “Until then, we will buy her enough time to get back.” She walked over to the window. Both Cadance and Firestar’s eyes went wide as Twilight’s mouth fell to the ground; in a flash of purple magic, she was gone.

One word hung as a whisper in the air; it seemed to stay longer than it should. Almost as if Twilight had left it behind. The word sent a chill down Cadance and Firestar’s spine.

“No.”

……...

The fight was finally going their way. Rainbow flashed around Ataxia several thousand times a minute, while they could not harm her eyes anymore, as Icarus could not get a clean shot with his spear, they could still keep her blinded with light.

It was risky, but with Rainbow’s reflexes, she was more than confident that she could keep it going. With her willpower controlling her flight she was not even at risk of fatigue, all she had to do was not want to stop and she would keep going.

Sadly, Radiant could not say the same thing; the battle had become an endurance trial for the unicorn. One his time spent in Firestar’s hospital room had left him ill prepared for. Rainbow had her speed, Icarus that magical spear. Radiant, well, he had nothing left in him. Yet, the unicorn would not quit. He did not know the meaning of the word. The Crystal Empire was his; he would not let others fight for it while he stayed on the sidelines.

Sure, he might not be able to hurt her directly, but he could still annoy her. Grab her attention and keep it away from the others, specifically to keep it away from Icarus.

Rainbow kept her blind, kept her guessing. Icarus was the one doing the real damage. Every time Ataxia would lash out to stop Rainbow, Icarus would cut off whatever limb she used. They were all staying in close, with her wings cut and frayed like they were, Ataxia was not able to use her fire, it would cause just as much damage to her as it did to everyone else. That only left her with physical attacks, claws, teeth and her tail. They were all attacks that she paid for in blood.

For any other creature, they would retreat. Their instincts would be screaming at them that fight was impossible; they would naturally go with the only other option, flight. Ataxia was not an ordinary creature; hate guided everything she did. Ataxia did not even know the reason why she hated anymore. It had become its own living, breathing thing in her mind. It was all she knew, it was all she lived for. It blocked out all other thoughts and emotions. She could not tell friend from foe. Everything she hated simply had to die. She hated everything.

Some things she hated more than others. Her instincts were driving her towards the hospital; she felt the pull like no other, something that had increased twofold in the past few minutes. It was maddening, however, that these insects, these bugs kept getting in her way. The solution was simple, kill the bugs and keep moving forward.

However, some bugs were harder to kill than others. They kept her blinded, they kept her disoriented, and they kept her in pain. That pain was only increasing her rage, increasing her hate. She had had enough of this. Ataxia formed a plan in her head. One that would finally put an end to all of this.

Rainbow saw it coming a mile away; Ataxia’s horn was getting ready for another spell. She had already interrupted six of them in the past several moments. This would simply make number seven. She flew up and kicked the horn with all her worth. Her back legs made impact without issue, cutting off whatever spell Ataxia was trying to cast.

Unfortunately, that was exactly what Ataxia wanted; she had timed out Icarus’s attacks, and knew just how long after she lashed out that he would attack. All she had to do was keep the gold one occupied.

Ataxia lashed out at Radiant, just as planned Icarus took off at that moment, ready to cut off her claw again before it reached the unicorn. Sadly, that was her plan too. In the middle of the attack, Ataxia pulled her claw back and swiped out with her large wing instead.

The appendage had largely been useless until now, Icarus made sure that whenever enough of one of them grew back he would attack it, forcing her to regrow it all over again. Still, it made for a nice area of effect weapon, one they could not hope to dodge.

Despite the distraction from her horn, Rainbow saw what the dragacorn had planned. Immediately after hitting it, she changed direction and shot down to pick up the unicorn. While Icarus would still be hit, his blow would only be a glancing one, and even with her speed, she could only save one of them.

She almost made it too, almost. When she picked up the unicorn, he nearly fell out of her hooves, Rainbow’s one missing hoof made itself known yet again. She fumbled with him for a moment. A moment she did not have.

Instead of the wing striking two of them, it hit all three. The blow sent the trio crashing into a nearby building. Rainbow managed to position herself between the building and Radiant. She knew her magic would protect her from most of the damage, but he did not have any sort of protection. Rainbow and Icarus collided with the building with a loud boom. They impacted the side of the wall and sent cracks running in many directions. The Crystal Empire was tough, its buildings literally made of crystal, crystal that they were getting very intimate with now.

Icarus temporarily lost consciousness from the hit, his head jerked back into the buildings wall. Rainbow had been right, he was only struck with a glancing blow, while she had no doubt he would have a few injures, he should still be fine.

She had taken most of the impact from Ataxia and then the building. Radiant was dazed but not out of it. Rainbow got off slightly worse, her magic absorbed most of the damage but some of it got through. The only thing she had not planned for was that when she put herself between Radiant and the wall, she ended up putting her wings into the building itself.

However, Ataxia was not done. Immediately after striking the three, she lashed out with her dragon fire. Fire that would arrive seconds after Rainbow and Icarus hit the wall, giving them no time at all to respond to it.

Rainbow saw it coming, the speed it was moving at, the way she felt, there was no getting out of it this time. Her brain instantly knew that by the time she got her wings unstuck from the building it would be too late. It would only take her milliseconds to free them, but even that was too long. There was no saving herself, or anyone else for that matter.

The fire approached at incredible speed, a wall of yellow, orange, and red moving in as if it had a life to itself. As if it was coming to greet Rainbow like a long lost friend. Less than ten hooves before it touched, five before the heat alone would be enough to kill all three of them, Rainbow saw the oddest color added to the mix: Purple.

Author's Notes:

The spear imbued with the magic of two avatars, a demigoddess, and an alicorn. It'll give its wielder the power to protect anyone they love. Sadly, it has the same weakness that all weapons share: Its user.

Two more chapters to go!